Lovely Barricade
by Rainpebbles
Summary: Impala Series Part: XIII Relationships on the boat get a little rocky as they all are brought back to a harsh reality. At the same time, an old friend of Anna's calls to them for help. Now while trying to keep his crew together, Dean now finds himself leading a bunch of concubines into a battle where odds are severely stacked against them. Destiel and Sabriel
1. Chapter 1

Notes: So here we are in the next story! As I mentioned before, I'm using this episode as a set up for the rest of the series, so there will be a bit more original script than usual. Hopefully it all goes well. Anyway, enjoy!

leahelisabeth: LOL! Omagosh that is way too funny! I was hanging with my best bro Daniel when I was writing that chapter. It must have just slipped in while I was talking to him! Tragically I don't think if him that way at all, but I'm sure he'll get a kick out of it when I tell him XD But I fixed it so that others ain't confused in the future! *still laughing my ass off*

Disclaimer: I'm just gonna go cry in the corner. You guys understand.

* * *

CHAPTER 1

It had been two months since they had left Benny on his home planet, and Dean couldn't remember ever going anymore than a few weeks without some catastrophe or another. Sure, the first month was damned relaxing, hell, practically a vacation for them after what they had gone through in the last year, but the second month was what got Dean's skin itching. As much as he loved the quiet, he just knew that something was lurking behind a corner somewhere waiting for them to drop their guard.

And whatever monsters awaited them, it started about two weeks before the one year anniversary of their new crew members...

* * *

It was interesting for everyone to finally get a chance to see how their fellow crew members handled boredom as they didn't remember a time that they had ever had a break long enough to actually _get_ bored. Around the first month, they all started to see less and less of his Sam and Gabriel. Now the reason for their disappearance was not something that they really wanted to think about particularly, but it was an unspoken procedure to avoid the crew quarters whenever both pilots were missing from the rest of the ship. A fact that greatly pleased and amused Gabriel to no end.

Gabriel, however, also feels that he might be going a bit soft, domestic even. For the five years he spent on the Impala before his brothers arrived, he had never really _settled_. It always felt like his muscled remained coiled, ready to spring him away at a moment's notice. At that point, he had found a haven. A place that he could hide and feel safe. Not that had all changed. Now he felt like he had really found a home, and he was pretty sure that his brothers felt the exact same way.

Without a catastrophe to distract them, he and Sam had started to become more and more creative in how they spent their time, but all that creativity could only last them so long. They had some great stamina that Gabriel was damned proud of, but damn, there was only so many times they could go in a row. This of course didn't stop him from forcing Sam to study pilot's books with him in their room, just because he knew that the rest of the crew would believe that they were actually still going at it. It was all worth it to see their faces at the dinner table when they emerged from eight hours holed up in their room together.

Sam of course would roll his eyes, and try to duck away whenever he tried to mess up his mane of hair to really sell the crew on the whole sex thing, but Gabriel could see how happy the younger Winchester was. It still gave him tinglies whenever he thought about Sam happy. Happy about life, happy about his home, happy about _him._ Who would have ever thought that Sam would actually love someone like him.

Gabriel might be all smiles and jokes, but he had his dark side that even he didn't feel comfortable with. Nobody really brought it up, and he didn't mind in the least because he didn't even let himself think about his time at the Host. He had done such a good job at keeping what had happened to him a secret that now he was pretty sure that at least half of his memories had become repressed in one way or another.

Sam had tried, oh how he had tried to make Gabriel share those memories on those quiet nights when it was dark and he woke in a cold sweat, but he truthfully didn't remember those dreams and even if he did…why bring up those dark memories? For all they knew, bringing up what had happened to him might just make him as unstable as Castiel.

His blatant refusal to even think about the Host had so many reasons behind it, but first and foremost was that he had been so afraid of Sam and the others thinking that he was some kind of freak that he had even taken on a whole new identity for five years.

But here he was accepted, here he was home. Here he could grab Sam at almost any hour and take them to their room for some "tango lessons".

But even those two needed to take a break from…whatever it was they were doing down there and Gabriel split his time in between piloting lessons with Sam and being with his own brothers.

He had forgotten how good it felt to just be near them without any threats or danger looming around their heads. He had lost count of how many times he would just seek out Castiel, finding him reading a book, or tending his plant, or just sitting around with Dean while the captain cleaned his guns or did inventory. And of course Balthazar was never too far away whenever Dean was occupied, just taking a nap or trying to make Castiel lose his place while reading, just like when they were kids. These times that he found them behaving like how he remembered from all those years ago, they were golden and warmed him to the core.

It just sucked that there were no bugs to be found on the ship, otherwise it could _really_ be like old times. Hell, he was bored enough at this point to go back to the classics. He was pretty sure that he still had a whoopi cushion somewhere…

* * *

Balthazar had also been splitting his time in between his brothers and the others. And when he meant others, he meant the incredible amount of time he found himself slipping into Anna's shuttle to just get a small feel for luxury again…and hygiene. Anna might have been the only one on the ship that had any desire to talk fashion and the social gossip around the 'verse, and he truly was afraid of falling behind in the times and showing up on some hot spot planet wearing last season's shoes.

Being a fugitive would at least give him that bad boy vibe that might win over the high society ladies anyway. He had told Dean and Cassy this, and both of them had rolled their eyes in unison.

If he wasn't in Anna's shuttle, he was usually bothering Cassy, trying to keep an eye on him for Dean or just enjoying the feel of having him close. So often he would just sprawl out on the couch next to his little brother, head placed in his lap and just taken naps to pass the time. Cassy had this wonderful quiet nature about him that had thankfully remained even after his mind had been altered that had always soothed Balthazar, centered him. Being able to use Cassy like a pillow again like he had done so many times as children, just made him feel at home. He never thought that he would come to think of the Impala as home, but somehow it had.

However, as it was, at this point his hair had been gelled to here absolutely every hair was in place, his nails buffed until he could see his reflection in them, and toenails groomed to the point where he felt it a shame that he had to wear shoes. All dressed up and nowhere to go, and one could only take so many naps before they became a cat.

He hoped that they would at least find a job soon because he was about two days out from letting Anna paint his nails to just pass the time.

* * *

Bobby hated sitting idle. Hated it.

He was one of those kinds of people who couldn't sit still while there was even one thing that could be gotten done. He had been trying to occupy his time by cooking like he usually did, and fixing little things here and there, but gorramnit, there were fewer and fewer things that he could fix up. Hell, he had even fixed that crooked cupboard door and stitched up that rip in the couch cushion.

Then of course he had raided Castiel's library. The boy had acquired a healthy amount of books, enough that Bobby was pleased that he could justify spending a few hours making the kid a new bookshelf. Most of the books were from the dust ball of a planet where they had first met Bela, the classic classics from Earth that Was. Others were just little dollar novels that the crew, especially Dean, had just bought on a whim and given to Castiel not even caring at the content as they knew that the kid would be all big eyed and grateful even if it turned out to be an outdated instruction manual. However, even with his ever growing collection, Bobby had blown through each one already and was down to borrowing some of Gabriel's pilot manuals and reading all that he could from the cortex at this point.

So he had decided that it was time to learn all that he could from Chuck about mechanics. He had his own fairly good understanding of a lot of parts, but it wouldn't hurt to maybe soak up a bit more knowledge.

It was almost two months into their little break from the last adventure when Dean had appeared in the engine room while he worked with Chuck, jaw clenched and eyes scared and asking for his help.

* * *

He had not been prepared for it at all. When he thought of disaster and catastrophe, he expected explosions and proximity alarms, not walking into his room after a relatively normal and boring day to find something that made his blood run cold.

Bobby had warned him about this, but not even he had expected it to happen this quickly. They all had assumed that they would at least have a year before something like this happened, but when had anything ever gone their way?

Dean had just finished up in the cargo bay where he had been working on the transcar, making sure that it was in tip-top shape for whatever their next job was. It had felt good to get his hands nice and greasy as he worked on replacing some old cylinders, so good that he didn't even notice how much time had passed since he had started working. He rolled himself out from under the frame of the transcar and glanced around the empty hold. He was only mildly surprised to not see Cas anywhere. Usually the other man like to sit nearby with a book while Dean worked, but every once in a while he would find something else to do, like spending time with his brothers as of late.

Speaking of brothers, he just happened to spot Sam walking through one of the hallways and greeted him.

"Oh, hey, Dean," Sam said, sounding mildly distracted and Dean took notice of how he was bouncing from foot to foot.

"Uh, what are you up to, Sammy?"

His little brother looked a little uncomfortable when he met Dean's eyes, "Uh, well...I guess that you deserve some sort of heads-up. Um, you see...Gabe's kinda gotten bored and-"

Dean held his hand up to stop him, already knowing exactly what that meant and groaning internally already, "Right. I'll start looking at my chair before I sit down. He doesn't have laundry duty this week, does he? I don't know if we will survive Bobby getting itching powder in his priest collar again. And I'm pretty sure that Meg will literally start shooting up the place if he tries to bleach her hair again."

Sam shrugged helplessly, "Maybe it'll help to break up the monotony? We used to do the same thing as kids."

Dean regarded his brother with a dull look, he saw that familiar twinkle in his little brother's eye and knew without a doubt that he was thinking up some choice pranks of his own. He sighed, "You know...I would tell you to act your age and not your shoe size, but we all know that you are the semi-hairless Big Foot. Just make sure that we survive this prank war."

Sam smirked and nodded before he headed off in the other direction, probably to go find Gabriel.

As Sam moved out of sight, Dean felt a sudden chill go through his bones, but he didn't pay it much mind as he absently tried to wipe away as much of the smudge from his fingers. He just slowly made his way up the stairs to the common area, peeking inside to see if Cas was stuck with a sleeping Balthazar on him again, but he wasn't there. Next he walked down the corridor and passed the control room, glancing in to see if he was maybe watching the stars with Gabriel again, but no one was there.

He knew that he wouldn't be in the engine room today because Bobby had told him that he and Chuck were doing some serious work in there and didn't want him to get hurt in the metallic chaos, and Cas hated the infirmary for obvious reasons and wouldn't be in there unless he had to, so his last thought was that Cas was probably hanging around the Nest or his room.

He went to the Nest first and saw that the hatch was half open and the lights were on inside. Bingo. Must be working of Fern again.

Deftly, Dean made his way down the ladder, eyes still focused on his dirty hands as he entered the room.

"Hey, Cas. Looks like it's almost time for dinner. Don't suppose you want to help me get cleaned up?" he suggested slyly over his shoulder, already getting excited at the idea of another shower adventure with Cas, but his smirk slowly fell as he didn't get an answer. He glanced up curiously and his stomach dropped.

Cas was sitting at the head of their bed, his eyes cloudy and not focused on anything. For a horrible moment, Dean thought he looked like a corpse, but then he saw the shallow rise and fall of his chest under the thin and wet with sweat, shirt.

"Cas!"

Dean shouted and ran up to him, hands roaming all over to try and find anything that would tell him what was wrong, but in his haste he accidentally bumped into Cas' hand where a pill bottle fell to the floor with a rattle.

He picked it up and read the label. It was the special muscle relaxant pain killer that they gave Cas every day and there were four fewer in this bottle than there should have been. Cursing softly, he chucked it across the room and started to shake the thin shoulders.

"Snap out of it man, wake up!"

The eyes didn't close or focus at all. It was all too much like that time that Cas had been drugged to the gills by that bitch Bela, and it scared him as much as back then.

He knew that he couldn't handle this alone, so he tore himself away from Cas' side and ran to the engine room to find Bobby, heart doing it's best to lodge itself in his throat.

* * *

"How long has he been like this?" Bobby asked as soon as they got back to the room. Dean ran a shaking hand through his hair.

"I dunno. I just came down here to clean up for dinner. I haven't seen him for hours," he hissed the last part, angry that he hadn't thought to check up on him sooner.

Bobby first listened to Cas' breathing, then checked his far too slow pulse as he went over his medical training in his head. Overdoses were never pretty, but this one wasn't too bad. All they had to do was get Cas awake and moving and his ridiculous drug metabolism should be able to take care of it soon enough.

"Help me get him in the shower. Water might wake him up and get him going," Bobby ordered gently and the two men pulled the limp form from the bed and carried him into the stall, flipping on the water.

As the frigid water rained down on Dean, the shock of what might have happened hit him like a slap in the face. Why the hell did Cas take those meds? It couldn't have been attempted suicide. He was happy, right? Why would he do this though?

He hardly noticed nor cared that his clothes were now completely soaked and his skin was raised in goosebumps, Dean was too focused on watching Cas' slack face as water pelted down on it and plastered his usually wild hair to his head.

Gently he stroked the soggy bangs back, relief flooding him as he noticed Cas' eyes finally flutter a small bit and his blown out iris' contract as the shower light hit them. He had wanted to take a shower with Cas, but this was not at all what he had in mind.

* * *

As soon as Cas started to flex his fingers and his feet, Bobby and he had pulled him out of the shower, dried him off and put him in some dry clothes before they forced him to his feet.

He may have been about as steady as a new foal, but he remained upright.

"Let's start him up to the infirmary," Bobby said quietly, "Hopefully we won't run into anyone along the way."

They didn't speak, none of them, as they maneuvered the slight man onto the medical bed in the center of the room. Bobby just went about checking vitals with the more accurate machines, taking a blood sample, and finding a blanket to put over the shivering young man.

As he had thought, the blood sample showed already a decreased amount of the drug that was slowly going back to the safe levels, and it showed in Cas' face as well. His eyes were no longer clouded over and he seemed well aware of his surroundings…as well as how upset Dean was. Bobby wasn't psychic like Cas was, but even he could feel the guilt pouring off of both of them.

It was almost like as Cas became more aware, Dean did the opposite as he stared at the same spot on Cas' blanket for the last five minutes, not moving, barely blinking.

The preacher sighed and glanced over to the cabinet that they locked Cas' drugs in, seeing that the small metal door had easily been torn from its hinges. It made him wonder why they bothered locking it in the first place if Cas could tear through it like paper.

On the bed, Cas started to fidget, rolling his shoulders and trying to adjust quietly, but he let out a small groan that made Dean's head snap up and glance at him in concern.

Castiel met his gaze with guilty eyes, "Oh, I'm sorry. I've interrupted a deep thought, haven't I? Already I can see it growing smaller in your eyes…"

Dean shook his head and looked up at Bobby, eyes falling on the ripped off cabinet door, "Well, that answers how Cas got his hands on them in the first place," he commented dryly and he turned to Cas who was guiltily looking down at his hands.

He was about start demanding answers, but several startled gasps suddenly came from the doorway where Gabriel, Sam and Balthazar all appeared.

"Cassy!?"

"Jesus, what happened?"

Both older Novaks ran to their little brother's side, Gabriel placing his hand to Cas' forehead to feel for injury, but he didn't find anything like that. All he could make out were some wonky stuff here and there.

Sam watched the panic play over their faces, and winced at the terror that he saw there. Gabriel had just been telling him and Balthazar about his master plan to sneak a whoopi cushion under Cas' chair that night at dinner and they had walked by the infirmary to see Dean and Bobby standing over a limp Castiel in bed. There was nothing okay with that.

Balthazar was about to hyperventilate and had gone completely pale, "What's wrong with him?" he asked his older brother first, then glanced at Dean, and finally Bobby, but they didn't really have an answer.

All eyes turned to Castiel who shrank back on the bed.

"What the hell was that, Cas?" Dean asked quietly, the pain evident in his voice.

"I…it hurt, Dean. I know Bobby said it shouldn't, but it did. I didn't want to upset the castle of cards, so I thought I would take from the deck and no one would notice."

Dean sighed and rubbed a clammy hand over his face. So they were back to riddles it seemed.

"It hurt? Are you talking about your back, Cas" he tried to clarify.

Cas nodded, shame clouding his features.

Everyone in the room flinched. They thought they had longer than this before the delicate equilibrium they had established was upset.

"And are you still hurting?" Bobby asked gently. Another hesitant nod.

Dean was fuming though. He couldn't have been more angry at himself, and maybe a little bit at Cas too for not coming to him sooner, to share his thoughts. Not all of them were psychic after all. It was just so careless…so childlike that Cas thought he could handle something as big as this on his own.

The preacher turned to the others, "I'll see what I can do about coming up with a new drug regimen that could help, and I think I'll take a break from mechanics and start looking over those old scans from Ariel. Until then we're going to have to do what he did before, back massages and try to keep him comfortable."

Bobby wasn't sure, but this was maybe either Cas' drug metabolism adapting too quickly to the pain killers, or whatever those things were, those shadows in the images, were changing again. Could even be a mix of the two.

"And how long is that going to last this time around?" Balthazar said bitterly.

Bobby shrugged, "We'll just have to wait and see, but I'll find a balanced regimen soon enough, next day or two. He'll be back to, uh, normal before week's out," he said as a promise to his brothers and Dean, but the words were only temporary comfort.

Just like the last two months had only been a temporary comfort.

"We'll just have to keep our eyes open."

* * *

Yeah, I totally quoted Harry Potter in there cause Luna reminds me so much of crazy Cas it hurts. Speaking of hurt...so many sad faces...ANyway, next chapter up tomorrow! See ya then!


	2. Chapter 2

Notes: Little bit o plot, little bit o other and a lot o character reveals!

leahelisabeth: Squeak! You and me both XD I'm actually having a lot of fun writing this story!

Eri: Welcome back! :D And don't you worry about a thing! As a proud fangirl I only have the best intentions in mind , and I plan on making this as schmoopy as I can to satisfy all! *girly squeal*

Disclaimer: I don't want to talk about it. It hurts too much.

* * *

CHAPTER 2

It was only two days more until the day that marked the one year anniversary of the Impala becoming home for nine crew members. Not that Dean had been keeping track or anything. It was just that the day was definitely one that stood out in his mind. Seriously, how many times in your life do you open up a box with a naked dude in it who's mind and body were fucked with by his most hated enemy, and then add on that the dude would become his lover not too long after. Yeah. Day to remember.

It was sad though. He had fooled himself that when the day got closer and closer that it would just solidify in his mind how great things had become for them in the last year, but instead they were all back on Cas-watch and once again floundering to find a way that they could help their troubled friend.

Bobby hadn't lied. He had found a new regimen for Cas that mostly worked out. Mostly in that Cas wasn't a huddled up ball of trenchcoat in the corner spitting out fortune cookies, but Dean wouldn't have minded that too much. What he minded was that it was just like those first few months where the pain would just start up occasionally and to avoid any more overdoses, all they could do was help rub away the tightened muscles.

Even that wasn't fun anymore though because since they had first come up with the idea for massages, Dean had seen what exactly it was that was causing his friend such discomfort. It had gone from innocent, well, a slightly innocent and soothing activity for them to share and now had become a reminder to both of them to what had been done and how much they had yet to learn.

He loved running his hands over Cas' skin, feeling the lean muscle ripple under his touch, but there was now the voice in the back of his head that brought up those images that Bobby had shown him on the cortex. Something was there under the smooth skin that Dean had no clue what it was. There were times even that his mind tricked him into feeling something else besides muscles ripple under his hands, but that was ridiculous.

Cas had been silent on the whole subject, refusing to answer questions to how he was doing or how he was feeling. He didn't even say anything when he was hurting anymore, choosing to silently bear it, but everyone on the ship knew him well enough by now to notice the signs of discomfort. They all knew that it was from guilt of causing such worry and upset on the ship, knocking down the house of cards as he said, and no amount of lectures from Dean, comments from his brothers, or encouragement from Sam was about to change his mind on the matter.

So together they had decided to start up the Cas-watch again, where he was rarely left alone. It wasn't so much of a bother because it meant that Dean got to spend more time with him, but it was the knowledge of why they were doing this that made it have a sour taste to it. Needless to say, Dean had been pretty sour himself the last two weeks, and he wasn't alone.

* * *

The two older Novaks had been incredibly upset with themselves for letting their guard down and their little brother getting hurt because of it. Their family was almost as good at the whole guilt thing as the Winchesters at this point.

Balthazar had taken to hovering again and Gabriel had been trying to tip his balance between his piloting duties, Sam, and his little brother. Of course Sam was more than understanding when Gabriel turned down a piloting lesson to instead take a turn on watch, but could you blame either of them for missing their time together and feeling down because of it?

Now if those three were sullen, especially the ship's resident clown Gabriel, of course it would spread to the others. Meg had chosen to hide away in her room where she spent her time cleaning her guns until they could be used as somewhat decent mirrors, not wanting to hang around with people who were "the most sexually frustrated people he had ever met who were actually getting some".

Chuck was flat out refusing to leave the engine room, coming up with as many excuses as possible for something new that he had to fix, and Bobby was doing the same thing in the infirmary where he continued to pour over the images from Ariel as if they would tell him anything new.

But most odd out of all of them was Anna. Of course she would be down because of her empathy for Castiel, but she was truly becoming more and more withdrawn from the others and Dean wasn't sure why. Anna was the one that he used to always go to for a talk or advice, but not so much recently due to more pressing matters as well as having a psychic lover who could just as easily read his feelings and rub them in his face as Anna could with an hour long tea party.

Dean had done a mental backtrack in his mind to see if he could recall the last job she had, but all he could come up with were those little appointments she had at their last heist. That was almost three months ago and he wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure that was the longest dry spell she had ever had while serving on his ship.

He made a mental note to ask Gabriel about swinging by a nice planet sometime in the near future.

* * *

It wasn't a very nice planet.

It was a dust ball really, with long flat dessert in every direction for miles. There were a few towns on this world, each governed in their own way because the total population was no where near enough for it to warrant a police force to be established. Even so, the towns functioned well enough in their isolation, but like anywhere else in the universe, humans easily got bored, especially stuck on such a lack luster planet.

It was the planets own little getaway, set about ten miles centered between several of the towns. Some called it the oasis for their world, others a mirage and would only cause you trouble and heartbreak, but the Heart of Gold Bordello stood proud and shimmering in its own little patch of the desert.

It was plain, but stately in its own way, made up of a mish-mash of multi-storied wood frame structure and completely covered in incredibly shiny panels from stem to stern. But the people who came to this whore house weren't looking at the structure. They were looking for some escape, a good time, but to the actual residents of the house it was home and it was all they had.

A pretty girl and an equally pretty man were outside of their house, hanging laundry on the clothes lines, giggling and laughing together as the bumped hips and joked about some of the more odd choices of undergarments of their house siblings.

It was when the young girl was able to push her friend through the sheets that they heard the sound of approaching hoofbeats in the distance, then they saw the oncoming riders and the hovercraft that soared in between the horses. They knew who was coming.

"Pamela! Pamela!" they called to their house mother, and not ten seconds later the beautiful brunette came running outside flanked by another more muscular young man and another woman.

"Get inside the two of you," she called to the younger house siblings and they didn't hesitate to follow that order, running straight past the older three in their scramble to hide.

Pamela was mentally going through her options, but there really was only one choice at this point. She had to stand tough, so she squared her shoulders and waited for the horses to arrive, completely immovable. She had been expecting this.

Upon their arrival she tilted her chin up in a defiant gesture, "We ain't open for business boys. Laundry day. I think it's best if you turn around and head back to town," she said calmly.

The men on horseback sneered and a man hopped down from the hovercraft, more cleanly dressed than the rest of them but twice as slimy. He fancied himself a gentleman, but he was anything but gentle according to her girls…

"Well I think it's best if you shut up, whore."

Pamela sneered right back, "And for you…just consider this place a 24/7 laundromat and we're never open for you to again, Rance Burgess. You have long outstayed your welcome at this establishment and I never want to see your sorry excuse for a baboon butt face around here again."

"I ain't here for your whores, just for what's mine."

"Well last time I checked my inventory, nothing here belongs to an ass, and I know that if you boys don't get gone, I'll be within my rights to open fire on you."

Burgess laughed at this and shook his head in mock sadness, "Only rights creatures like you got are the ones I give you," he turned to his men, "Find the girl."

Right away seven armed men jumped down from their animals and stormed into the bordello, pushing past any of the occupants who tried to stop them.

"She isn't here. Girl left this barren moon more than a month ago. You scared her off it seems," Pamela stated confidently, but then shrill screaming was heard from the doorway where the seven men reappeared dragging a struggling very very pregnant girl out with them. Her eyes were filled with anger, not even enough space left for fear.

Burgess smiles a sickly looking smile at the sight of her, "Ah, Lisa. It's a good thing you haven't left with my baby," he commented as he moved up to the furious woman.

"It's not your baby!" she screamed back, trying her best to yank her arms free without jostling herself and the unborn infant too much.

"So you say…" he muttered and then signaled to his men, who ripped open her dress, exposing her swollen belly. From his back pocket he pulled out a small needled device and plunged it into her stomach. He couldn't help but smile a bit as she winced and gasped at the sudden pain.

It only took about five seconds for the device to let out a small beep and he pulled it free with a satisfied look on his thin face, "If this DNA is a match with mine, you know that I will be back for my baby," he informed her, waving the device in her face for emphasis, "and if I have to…I'll just cut it out of ya."

Only when he turned away and got on the hovercraft did the men holding Lisa let her go and she crumpled into the dirt with an angry sob. Pamela and the other two with her dove to her side, brushing the hair from her face and trying to calm her the best they could before they helped her to her feet. "Shh. Quiet, now. It'll all work out," Pamela whispered in her ear as she look to the horizon where the shapes of the retreating men just winked out of sight.

"Ava. Would you take Lisa inside and get her back to bed?" Pamela asked of the short girl at her side. Ava nodded and guided the somewhat calmed down Lisa back inside.

Jake stayed by Pamela's side, both of them looking across the now empty land ahead of them, "He'll do it, you know. He'll cut her up if he has to," the dark skinned man said quietly. He sounded a little to nonchalant with that statement and Pamela frowned at him.

"No. He won't. You know why? Because we won't allow it."

He raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And how are we going to stop him?"

She faltered, but quickly regained her confidence, "We'll get help. That's how."

He snorted, "Help? Out here? There's not a soul on this rock that would go up against Burgess that has any common sense, and even if there was, who would help people like us?"

She smirked and slapped him playfully on the arm, "You ask too many questions, Jake. I'll get us help. Your house mother has got some connections. Have faith…" she looked back at the starkly barren land around them and shivered despite the heat of the day.

"Have faith…"

* * *

Woot woot! So I included a healthy number of supernatural characters this time around. We got Pamela, Ava, Jake and even Lisa! This is gonna be fun! Well, maybe not the next chapter, but meh, eh, we'll get there.


	3. Chapter 3

Notes: Nope. Nope. Nope.

Leahelisabeth: Well, prepare yourself for some schmoop then XD

Eri: Totally! Gold star for you! :D I had her all picked out when I started planning the series in October. Far too perfect for the role ;)

Disclaimer: Nope. Nope. Nope.

* * *

CHAPTER 3

As quietly as he could, Castiel padded out of his brother's room where both Balthazar and Gabriel had fallen asleep on the bed, crumpled in on each other. It wasn't very late at night yet, most of the ship was still awake actually and just finding little ways to pass the time until they could no longer keep their eyes open. His brothers however were exhausted, he thought with a sad pang to his chest.

Ever since his 'accident' two weeks prior they had been worrying day and night over him. Even when it wasn't even their turn to keep watch, they still were laying awake in their beds thinking of sorts of horrible things. Castiel knew those thoughts were dark because they hung around his brothers like a dirty smog whenever he saw them.

They had taken him back to Balthazar's room after dinner this night, just to have some alone time together and to distract him from the ache that always grew worse after sitting in the hard chairs for the nightly meal. Gabriel had tried to read one of his books out loud for them, over-acting out certain parts that he found funny and making ridiculous faces that even got Castiel to crack a smile. When his voice started to crack too much from the strain of yelling, Balthazar had taken over and had suggested that they try origami with some old star maps recalling that it was one of Cassy's favorite pastimes when he was young. It was entertaining enough to be able to lose oneself in the crisp feel of the paper, the relaxing smoothing of the folds, the intricate patterns that challenged and distracted his mind. What his brothers found more entertaining were throwing their crumpled up failed attempts at each other when they finally gave up on whatever creature they had been working on. Still, Castiel was happy to see that the origami was working to make them all forget for a little while, not just him.

A swan, a bumblebee, a paper firefly ship (Cassy-bear….what the fuck?! How do you even…), a geometric star, and a host of paper flowers later, Castiel glanced up to see the slumbering forms of Gabriel and Balthazar, still with torn up shreds of paper littering their chests.

He smiled at the sight fondly and pulled a blanket from the chest at the foot of the bed, draping it over the two of them. He frowned when he saw that it was far too small to cover both full grown men no matter how short in stature Gabriel was, but they were sleeping sound enough that he let it slide.

He watched them for a while, thinking about many things. How things used to be. How things are now. How he wished they could be…Mostly he thought about how he hated that he was the cause of all the disrupt on the ship. There had been those glorious weeks where everyone was happy, content, but then he went and blew everything down by trying to solve a problem on his own. He just hated that he remembered being so independent, so self assured, so confident in himself back before…but now…

_He thought back to days before when he was still trying to sleep off the effects of the overdose in the infirmary. The others probably thought he was asleep, but his back had started to ache as he had been placed on his back when Dean and Bobby had brought him here and disposed of him on the bed. He was just going to turn on his side when he heard Dean's voice. He sounded angry. He had cursed himself for forgetting that too many drugs in his system made it so he could feel others very well, and right now he couldn't get a grasp on Dean's thoughts and emotions. It made him feel hollow._

_Those in the room where whispering low, so he had strained his ears to try and listen to the conversation, to see if he could pick up on why Dean was so angry._

"_Well why didn't he just come to us?" _

_That was Dean._

"_I don't know, man. He probably just thought that it wasn't a big deal—"_

_That was Sam's soothing soft voice as he tried his best to calm his older brother._

"_Not a big deal? He's not stupid. He knows that something like that is a fucking big deal."_

_He heard Sam sigh heavily, "What do you want me to say, Dean? Do you really want me to punch you in the gut and remind you that Cas is just one stamp short of postal?"_

_He heard the sharp intake of breath from Dean, "Fuck. Fine. Sure. Let's just add on that when he's like this he's just a baby in a trenchcoat," he said bitterly._

"_Dean…You don't mean that."_

"_So you're psychic too now?"_

_Castiel had stopped listening at that point. He didn't care that with each breath he took in his back screamed in protest. He forced himself into oblivion so he didn't have to hear or feel anything anymore._

He had withdrawn a lot after that, barely speaking to anyone and certainly doing his best to keep a brave face for everyone else. He didn't want to seem like even more of a burden, like a helpless child who couldn't take care of himself, so he just did what he was told and did his best ot not speak of things that would upset the others further.

To keep up appearances he had continued to spend a great deal of his time with Dean, but it wasn't the same. There was an undercurrent of wariness, or bitterness the flowed through both of them when they were alone together. The times that Dean would touch him, sooth his aching shoulders, they just weren't the same and he could feel it eating away at the both of them.

Just like it was eating away at his brothers, slowly pulling the energy from them until they were drained and spent and weary. Even Sam was starting to show the effects, like Castiel was spreading some sort of wasting sickness around the ship and it was only a matter of time until everyone was infected. Castiel was taking Gabriel away from Sam by making his brother feel like he had to be at Castiel's side whenever he could, and he was also taking Dean away by making the older Winchester clam up and be consumed by worry for him.

It was truly a wonder that the younger Winchester didn't hate him. Sam didn't get enough credit for his support of Dean and his encompassing welcome to those who Dean took in. And all of it served to make Castiel feel even worse that he was causing a rift between the strong bonds that Sam had with Dean and Gabriel.

Stretching his tendrils out around each new corner, he made sure that there was no one around the bend as he made his way to the crew quarters. He didn't want to be caught alone by anyone else, knowing that it would only serve as further upset, so it was with great relief that he was able to make it to the hatch to Dean's room without meeting anyone. He knew that the other man was already in there. He didn't even need to feel because he could hear the shower running.

He hopped down the ladder and stood at the bottom of it, not making a move to go any further into the room. He stood there for another five minutes without moving when the shower finally turned off and the door to the bathroom opened up, letting out an incredible amount of steam.

He let himself think fondly on how much Dean enjoyed those hot showers. It was one of the very few creature comforts that the Captain would allow himself, and Cas liked how no matter what, Dean always came out of those kinds of showers with a content smile and relaxed shoulders.

Of course the smile fell as soon as Dean caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye and the relaxed shoulders immediately tensed up, "Jeez, Cas. You scared the shit out of me, man. What are you doing standing over there?"

Castiel shrank in on himself, "I apologize. I wasn't sure if you wanted me to stay with you tonight, I can go back to my brothers if you—"

"No, I didn't mean…Yes, yes I want you to stay…if _you_ want to stay that is. I was just wondering why you were all the way over there."

Castiel relaxed marginally, "Oh. I just, uh, was waiting for you."

Finally a soft smile moved back onto Dean's handsome face, "Well, I'm here now and my bed is your bed, you're able to sit on it whenever you like. Mi casa…and something like that."

This was more awkward than Castiel could ever remember, and that was something because he had a very extensive record of awkward conversations. Gabriel used to tell him that he had a very special talent for manufacturing those uncomfortable silences. But even as his hands started to get clammy, he moved over to the bed and sat down as Dean got dressed. Normally he liked to watch, but tonight he couldn't bring his gaze off of the floor.

Dean of course took notice of the sullen attitude and once he was clothed, he sat down heavily next to the other man so that their shoulders were touching, "Talk to me," he ordered gently.

Cas shook his head and didn't look up, "I'm fine."

"Cas. Talk to me."

"No."

"Cas…"

"Dean, I said no," he said a little harsher than he meant to, but he didn't take it back. He felt Dean's shoulder sag wearily against his own and then felt the bed shift when Dean turned and tucked a finger under Cas' chin to make their eyes meet.

"Cas. I need you to tell me what's going on so I can help you."

"I don't want to need help anymore, Dean. I'm not a child, I don't want you to think of me as a child," he bit out sharply.

Dean snorted, "I don't think of you as a child, Cas."

"No. You think of me as a helpless infant that needs to be babysat. Nothing more than…a baby in a trenchcoat."

Dean winced, "You heard that, huh?" he made sure that he met Cas' eyes again, "Well someone as capable as you should know that I was talking out of my ass when I said that. I was worried. I was angry and I wasn't really paying attention to what I said."

"You were angry at me." A statement, not a question.

"No! I was angry at myself. I promised you, your brothers, and myself that I would look out for you and then that happened and…"

"But it wasn't your fault. I was the one who broke the vase, shattered the window and made everyone cold and sad," Cas cried out, and Dean could feel Cas' guilt hit him like a bitch slap to the face.

This time he cupped Cas' face with both of his hands, and the smaller man could feel the warmth spread through those strong fingers to the rest of his body.

"You listen to me, Cas. None of this is anyone's fault except for the Host's. What's happening to you is out of your control, and fuck it, it's out of my control too. We just have to accept that and adapt. You don't have to feel guilty about anything."

His words were like a balm to his heart, but he still felt remorse. No matter what he could not heal the pain that he had caused around the ship. He couldn't take away the worry, the darkness, the fear. Dean may be right. It might not have been his fault, but he would still feel just as guilty that for all of his ability and knowledge, he couldn't fix it.

"Cas? You know I'm here for you, right? You're not alone in this."

And that opened up the barriers that Castiel had so painstakingly put in place these last few weeks, and all the sorrow and pain that he and the crew had been hiding came rushing out in a flood of emotion that quickly became sobs of remorse and tears of helplessness.

He threw himself into Dean's lap and buried his face into Dean's neck where he cried out the emotions of each and every soul on the Impala. There were so many people in pain that just kept it all pent up inside, but Castiel could still feel it all and it built up and up. Now it was all pouring out of him in steady waves that sent tremors through his whole body and all Dean could do was hold him until the storm finally passed.

Dean had begun to rock them back and forth as he listened to the cries and whispered words form Castiel. He felt as Cas pulled back a fraction from his neck and started to place frantic kisses all along the exposed skin above his shirt, that quickly started to move up to the side of his face. Short desperate kisses that left behind the wetness of his tears as he continued to kiss at every inch of skin.

But it was what Cas kept saying in a mantra in between each one that made his heart clench.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Again and again. A hundred times in between the kisses and choked sobs and Dean couldn't think of anything to say. He just held tighter and continued to rock them until finally they both collapsed, wrought out of emotion and energy to stay awake in this world for a moment longer.

* * *

I'm going to go sit in a corner now...


	4. Chapter 4

Notes: First off. To all those who are from or who have friends or family from Boston, you are all in my thoughts and prayers. I've lived ten minutes out from there my whole life and I am utterly heartbroken at what has happened there. Love that city so much. Boston you're still my home!

Leahelisabeth: I know! I couldn't help it though! I had to write it. It was just too cute and and... D"X

Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure that even if I peed on it, I would still not own anything here.

* * *

CHAPTER 4

Anna loved the Impala. She had loved it since the very first time that she had ever laid her eyes on the rusty, bulky hunk of metal. The day that she had been walking through a space port and spotted the old ship, the squirrely little Chuck sitting out front of it with a shuttle for rent sign, she had just come from a somewhat very upsetting meeting with the Guild elders.

Now, she loved each and every one of her sisters from the Companion Guild, but sometimes she hated them too, just like a normal family she supposed. Anna may have been one of the most well behaved and favored among her peers, but it was only because she was obedient. Inside she wished that she could rebel, just like a few of her sisters did on occasion.

The life of a Companion had so many rules, complicated rules that governed how they would live every minute of their life. How to be zen, how to compose yourself in front of others, how to eat, how to bathe, how to properly do your hair, what to wear…and they were drilled in this.

Being a Companion is who you are, not what you do. It was a lifestyle, not a job.

They had been told that since they all entered the academy at the age of eleven. Of course at least some of them would rebel at this. It was only natural to wish to gain some sort of free will in their strictly governed lives, and for a while, Anna would wish that she could do the same, but she was just so…obedient.

This particular day was the first time that she had ever truly hated the Guild and their practices, and not just her sisters in particular. She had just heard the news about one of her favorite big sisters getting dismissed for disagreeing with a few of the elders. It was the last straw and Anna couldn't stand to live in the temple anymore. For the first time she felt truly stifled and all she wanted was…air. Freedom. Escape. Maybe if she went out on her own, she would finally be able to discover who she really was. Her true self had been hidden to her for so long as she was groomed and prepared for a life of pleasing others. She wanted to know what would please _her, _what she wanted…

And the moment that she saw the Impala, an old bucket of bolts that looked like it had flown to all edges of the universe, she knew that she wanted to fly away on it. She didn't even stop to think about what she was doing and she moved up to the ship. That was where she met Chuck, Meg, Gabriel, Sam, and then Dean.

They would become part of her first real family. Stepping on to that ship and flying away was her first rebellion. She didn't know how much more the Guild could take before they would dismiss her, but for the last few years…she couldn't bring herself to care. She had found herself and she had found a family.

* * *

They slept in incredibly late the next day, both of them more than content to just lay in each other's arms soaking up all the comfort that comes with having someone close to hold. Cas had woken up groggy and disoriented, and in Dean's opinion, incredibly cute with his mussed up hair and boofy eye blinking. After a night that Dean had decided was probably number 5 on his list of most heart-wrenching moments ever, he was beyond glad to smile at the jaw cracking yawn that had Cas stretching like a cat and almost falling out of bed.

Once Cas' eyes had finally started to focus again after blinking away the heavy sleep, he turned back to face Dean with the edges of his lips quirked up in a tired smile, "Good morning, Dean," he muttered in a low voice, making his normally deep and rough voice practically canyon deep and asphalt rough. However you described it, it sent shivers over his whole body and went in for a lazy kiss only to pull back abruptly, making Cas frown in disappointment.

"Dean?"

"Sorry, but Mr. Deathbreath here needs to go brush his teeth right now," Dean muttered, his noise wrinkling up in distaste.

"I don't mind…"

"You might not, but I'm offending myself here buddy," and Dean slowly got up from the bed, shivering as the cold air hit him. Cas watched him from the bed, owlish eyes roaming over the muscular form, appreciating the show he got each morning that he stayed in Dean's bed. He listened as Dean clunked around the bathroom for a few minutes before he re-emerged from the doorway, flopping back down in bed next to Cas.

The sudden movement sent a shock of pain through the smaller man that he did his best to hide, but Dean had been watching and saw the flinch and crinkling at the corners of his eyes. The smile Dean had been wearing that morning fell as the whole reason for the mess last night came right back to slap him in the face, roughly ripping away the remaining warmth from sleep.

He sighed and rubbed his hands up and down Cas' flank, "We should go get Bobby. He'll have your next dose ready."

Cas glanced at the clock on the wall, "It's still an hour early…"

"Don't care. Let's just get you dressed and we'll go find him."

* * *

Things had changed a little bit in order to avoid another incident, and the pills had been entrusted to Bobby to hide somewhere around the ship where they hoped that Cas wouldn't stumble upon them. So for getting all of his regular doses now they had to find Bobby who had the pills already picked out and waiting.

At first Cas had hated it. He felt like no one trusted him anymore, or even worse, they were treating him as an unruly child, but he had come to accept it if only to get the others to stop worrying so much.

The night before had helped with the bitterness over the whole situation, and for the first time in two weeks he felt light again. Well, moderately better that is. There was still a cold weight that rested on most of the crew's shoulders that all piled on to Castiel when he was near them. If this kept up, he would need to have more emotional releases like the one the night before. It was not a pleasant thought and he would much rather avoid that.

At least Dean always made him feel warm when they were in each other's presence, so he chose to spend this day near him, turning down Balthazar's offer for a rousing game of "Let's see if Anna will let me dress up Cassy in some of her dresses like I did when we were children". Of course, Dean's utter look of horror at the suggestion was more than enough of an excuse to decline his brother's idea.

So now he and Dean were in the dining area as the Captain started to clean his very large collection of small pistols. He liked how confidently Dean handled the weapons. He liked how the mechanical disassembly and reassembly, the well practiced movements, the familiarity with the working pieces, all of the steps seemed to make Dean relax in a whole other way. Not like how Dean would slump back in their bed at night, but different because there were no other thoughts flitting in his mind besides what he was doing with his fingers at that exact moment.

It was also oddly exciting to watch him whip up the newly cleaned gun, checking the barrel for straightness, somehow making it seem casually heroic. The spread of guns that took over the entire table helped to make the whole thing seem ten times more, using one of Dean's favorite words, awesome.

He tensed up a little as he felt the approach of someone coming up the corridor, but didn't say anything, instead he nodded silently to Anna as she entered the room.

She smiled to Castiel and then glanced at the concentrating Dean, "Hello, Captain", she greeted sweetly.

"Bwah!" Dean jumped in surprise at the sudden noise and almost dropped the gun he was holding. The sudden loss of composure made Cas smile slightly.

Anna giggled softly, "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

Dean immediately bristled, "You didn't. I was just, uh…" he waved the gun absently, "You 'bwah' it's more like a….it's a warrior like…it strikes fear into the heart of…" he scowled at the smiles that were growing on the other two people's faces, "You know it isn't wise to sneak up on a man while he's handling his weapon," he scolded, a blush creeping it's way up to redden his ears.

Anna and Cas exchanged sly glances, "I'm sure I've heard that said, but perhaps the dining area isn't the place for this sort of thing?" the Companion remarked.

Dean frowned, "What do you mean? This is the only place with a table big enough," he defended.

"Of course, Dean," Cas comforted gently as he leaned forward to start rearranging some of the guns, "But in that case, every well-bred criminal knows that the small concealable pistols always go to the far left of the place setting."

Dean stared at Cas for a moment, not entirely sure if Cas was kidding around or having a moment, but then he noted the twinkle of mirth, so much like Gabriel's, in those blue eyes and knew that Cas was messing with him. He flushed with warmth feeling like finally they were getting back on track, but then out of the corner of his eye he caught the wistful look in Anna's eye as she started a kettle of water for tea.

"Everything okay there, Anna?" Dean called to her and he could see the instant that the wistful look was painted over with a masterpiece of a serene and content expression. He hated it when she felt she had to hide what she was really feeling.

"Everything is perfectly fine, Captain. Would you like me to make you and Castiel a cup of oolong?"

Before Dean could respond, or even try to point out that she was trying to deflect the question, Gabriel came into the dining room.

The pilot spotted his little brother and noted that the dark circles that had appeared under his eyes looked mostly faded away and that he looked ten times brighter than the day before. He felt a lightness come back to his heart at the sight and moved over to Cas.

"Hiya, baby bro!" he greeted and planted an incredibly sloppy and loud kiss to his brother's stubbled cheek.

Cas rolled his eyes, "Hello, Gabriel," but he grinned when he noticed the light return to his older brother. It seemed like a chain reaction was going through the ship that slowly the clouds were lifting. But it wasn't clear skies yet, and probably wouldn't be for a long, long time.

"So, I just got a distress call coming in. Some folks asking for help it seems," the Pilot informed them.

Dean raised his eyebrows in pleased surprise, "Really? Folks asking for help? From little old me?" he practically preened under the idea.

"Well…"Gabriel cast an amused glance at his little brother.

Dean placed down the gun and made to get up, but Gabriel stopped him with a shake of his head, "Actually, Dean-bean, it's for Anna."

"Hunh?"

Gabriel laughed, "The call is for Anna. She's beating you in the popularity polls again it seems."

Anna looked a little confused at receiving a distress call, but like with all things in her life, she accepted it with grace and nodded to the pilot, "Thank you, Gabriel. I'll take the call in my shuttle."

"Coolio, I'll just send it back there to you," and Gabriel

"This distress wouldn't happen to be taking place in someone's pants, would it?" Dean asked the Companion with a teasing grin. Anna threw him a despairing look and took off to her shuttle.

Dean turned back to the table and picked up the gun again, Cas copying him and picking up one of the other finished and unloaded weapons. They both twirled them in their hands for a moment and then glanced up at each other.

Cas sensed what Dean was about to do, and Dean caught the smirk that told him that can knew.

They stared at each other for a beat and then in complete unison whipped the guns up in a heroic fashion.

"Bwah!" their voices sang out together, and then they both broke down into a fit of giggles that Dean would forever claim were very manly chuckles, but Cas knew better.

* * *

That was actually kinda fun to write, and I was glad to find a spot in the series where I could bring up what drove Anna away from the temple in the first place. It will be very helpful for when I start season 2 *hint hint*


	5. Chapter 5

Notes: All plot here folks!

leahelisabeth: Aren't they though! Gonna add so much cute in this story!

Disclaimer: Right now all I really want is some ice cream.

* * *

CHAPTER 5

She actually lost all sense of composure when Pamela's face came up on her telescreen. It had been…years since she had last heard from her Guild sister, not since…not since they had dismissed her. It was all because of Pamela that Anna had ended up here on the Impala in the first place. It was all because of her that Anna had a taste of freedom, and she hadn't realized just how much she owed her sister until she saw her face again.

All the emotions that she had felt so long ago, the first time that she ever had any doubt in the Guild, the thirst for freedom, it all came back in a rush that left Anna breathless. If it had been a social call, Anna knew that Pamela would have ragged on her unmercifully for the blatant emotions cracking her normal serene expression, but the serious look on her normally seductive face told Anna otherwise. This was a distress call, she remembered and quickly she schooled herself.

"Hello, Anna," she greeted, sounding a little bit breathless.

"Hello, Pamela…It's been a while. I've…I really have missed you."

Her friend smirked, "Of course you have, sweetheart! Can't imagine how bored everyone got once I got the boot. I was the steam that loosened up all you raw noodles."

Anna giggled, memories of her sister's antics flooding her mind for a moment, "This is true. Things became difficult for many of us at the temple once you left. Truth be told, I didn't even last a day once you were gone."

Pamela frowned a little, "Yes. I heard that you chose to become a traveling Companion right after I left. As I recalled, your plans were to be a temple Companion and become mentor to new recruits. Don't tell me that rebellious little me actually got teacher's pet Anna to break away?" she smirked again and winked at Anna in jest.

"Let's just say…you inspired me to be me, but I don't think you called to ask me about my career choices."

That got the smirk to fall away and she saw her friend's face become serious and her whole relaxed posture became stiff, "Yes…It seems I've run into a situation where my winning personality isn't going to solve it…"

Anna listened to the whole story, the horror growing with each new piece of information. There were so many stereotypes that people like her, like whores, were trash and didn't deserve the same rights as a normal citizen, a human being even. And these usually put them in positions were they were isolated, shunned even sometimes. Being a Companion wasn't the same, in fact one got status for their training in the arts, but those like the men and women under Pamela's care didn't have that kind of respect. They were simply tools for pleasure. No one would help those who they thought were no more than mere items. No one would care that a young woman was about to have her child stolen from her. Whores didn't have emotions in their eyes. They didn't know that what made them so good at their jobs was being to hide those emotions, not that they didn't have feelings at all.

Only difference between them and Companions was that a Companion was trained to live serene and quell emotions, while these young people were forced to hide.

"…And I knew that you were travelling and thought, well prayed really, that you would be in the area. I know I'm imposing, but I've got no one else to ask…" Pamela finished lamely, her eyes far too close to begging for Anna's spunky elder sister.

"It sounds like something this crew can handle. I can't guarantee that they will handle it particularly well, but they are good people," Anna told her honestly. She let her fondness for her shipmates show on her face so that Pamela would know that she truly believed what she was saying.

The older woman nodded, "Well, if they've got guns and brains at all, then we'll welcome them with open arms and puckered lips. I'll be the first one to kiss their asses if they get us out of this bind. And payment won't be a problem. We just aren't equipped for this kind of thing."

Anna flinched at the thought of payment, but she knew that her sister would refuse to have it any other way. She was never one for taking charity, or living off of the sympathy of others. She was far too independent for that. Also she had to consider the crew. They weren't close to Pamela like she was and here she was about to ask them to risk their lives for a complete stranger…

Well, it wasn't like they hadn't done something like that before…many times before.

"Pamela, everything is going to be all right. You're not alone out there anymore," she comforted, but Pamela had already wiped away the look of helplessness and covered it in her default sultry look. The small remnants of her time as a Companion.

Her sister leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms over her chest with a raised eyebrow, staring at Anna through the telescreen, "You know…the Guild would tell you not to come. If they knew they would probably order you to fly away and report us. I know that they told all of you to shun me when I left," she said quietly, a small pang of regret in her voice.

And Anna knew that she was right. The Guild elders would be more than cross if they got news of this, but Anna had learned many things while aboard the Impala, like you never left family behind, "The Guild can gun hoe-tze bee dio-se. I would have waved you long ago. It's just…" (Engage in a feces hurling contest with a monkey)

Pamela shook her head and held her hand up to stop her, "It doesn't matter, little sister. The fact that you called me back now tells me more than enough," they both smiled at each other and Pamela let her hand drop and slap on the table as she choked out a laugh, "Who'd have thought that we'd both end up all the way out here?"

Anna actually snorted, "Of all the things I've seen, this doesn't surprise me in the least."

"Girl, you must have some pretty spectacular stories to tell then. If you and yours decided to come on down, we'll have to have one of our old cuddle up with a bottle of whiskey tea parties again so I can hear them. But, uh…you tell me what your people say. If you're coming or not, okay?"

"Of course."

Pamela offered one last weak smile, "I'll wait to hear from you then. Tzoo-foo nee, mei mei." (Blessing on you, dear sister)

"And you," and Anna gently touched the screen to end the call. For a moment she sat there to absorb everything and taking a deep breath before turning around to where Dean was standing in the doorway, "I suppose you heard most of that?" she asked the Captain wearily. It was a lot of bad, and truthfully, as much as she knew the crew were all for saving people, in the light of the last few weeks and all the issues with Castiel, perhaps they weren't ready to take anything else on right now.

Dean shrugged and moved over to the edge of the couch closest to Anna, so that their knees where only a few inches away, "Only because I was eavesdropping…" his teasing smile dropped and he became very serious as he continued, "Your friend sounds like she's in a peck of trouble," he said mildly, like he wasn't leaning one way or the other in his attitude toward the whole thing.

For once Anna was incredibly happy that Dean was the type of person to not care that he was listening in on something private. She knew that she would have hated to repeat all of that, and at least this way Dean had in a way already gotten a feel for the person they were helping.

Anna nodded sadly at Dean's assessment, "She is. And there is no authority on that moon that she can go to. I know I told her she wasn't, but they really are all alone out there."

"Some men might take advantage of that."

Anna tossed him a bitter look, "One man in this case."

Leaning back on the couch, Dean pulled one of the many decorative pillows into his lap and started to fiddle with the tassles, "And she's looking for someone to come along and…explain things to him?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's essentially it, yes."

Dean blew out a breath and his eyes bugged out a little bit as he thought about the specs of this mission should he choose to accept, "A whole house of Companions to save…"

"They're not Companions…they're regular whores," Anna corrected her voice hitching at the hated word she had to use, "They're not registered with the Guild. They're…"

"Independent?"

Again, Anna nodded, "If you agree to do this, you'll be compensated. I'll see to it," Dean held up a hand to stop her.

"You can keep your money. We won't be needing any payment. This Pamela is your friend, right? That means she's sort of kinda a friend of ours," Dean told her awkwardly, his eyes looking anywhere but her face as he said this. Anna had to smile at this.

"Dean. Thank you, really, but you will be paid. Pamela wouldn't have it any other way. I'll call her back right now to tell her," she said and made to turn around, but Dean stopped her with a lowered voice.

"And you two were talking about the Guild not being too happy with all of this. So…if they get wind of this and feel the need to punish you, what are we to expect? They going to take away your candles? Or should we be prepared for…something else?"

Anna turned her back to him so that he wouldn't see the shadows in her eyes, "We'll cross that bridge if or when we come to it."

Dean wanted to pry deeper, but Anna was one of those who even Sam wouldn't be able to get to open up without a scalpel, so he just nodded and got up from the couch, "Okay, then. I'll go tell the crew."

And he stepped out of the shuttle to give Anna some privacy.

* * *

True to his word, Dean called all other crew members to the dining area to inform them of the job ahead. He had walked into the room expecting his crew to all be confused, nervous chatter filling the room, but instead he entered to see then all sitting there like little angels, hands folded neatly in front of them as they sat circled around the table. He knew right away that something was up, and he made sure to glance down at the one empty chair next to Cas. He didn't see anything there though. A few of them smirked as they saw him do this, but didn't say anything.

He chose to ignore the fact that he had probably just walked into a minefield, he decided to just get down to business and decided to not risk sitting in a chair, even if it was next to Cas. While he went over the basics, he was sure to look each and every one of them in the eye to gauge their thoughts and feelings on the job ahead. He was pleased that most of what he saw were positive responses.

"So those of you who have a mind to are welcome to join in. And those who don't can just as soon stay on the ship and continue their little vacation," he finished and waited for the comments.

Of course Meg was the first to speak up, "Not too sure I see the benefit in getting involved in a stranger's troubles without an upfront price negotiated," she muttered and flicked at some invisible lint on the table.

"These people need assistance though. Sounds like they could really use a hand," Chuck defended, already feeling bad for those people that Dean was telling him were all alone in their troubles. And the idea of a baby being taken away from its mother? Who did that?

"So what? We just going to go around helping every Tom, Dick, and Moron from now on?"

"No one is going to force you to go, Meg. As Dean said, this job is choice for all of us," Sam cut her off harshly, fed up with her reluctance to be a normal human being. Meg didn't seem bothered in the least by the cut off.

"Good. I don't know these people. Don't really care either."

Dean sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, "It's at a whore house," he informed them finally. He had been hoping to keep that little tidbit to himself for a while longer.

Meg's jaw dropped before morphing into a smirk, "Well. That just made this ten times more interesting. Count me in!"

The rest of the reactions around the room were somewhat one the amusing side, the tragic predicament aside. Sam kept his composure and his puppy dog eyes showed his compassion for helping them, despite their occupation. Bobby somewhat the same. Chuck had turned beat red, but he still nodded to Dean to show that he was ready to sign up. Everyone could practically see all the funny comments pooling in Gabriel's eyes, but he was holding them back for now, at least until the job was done. Balthazar looked…far more excited than he should be at the prospect of them heading into a somewhat dangerous situation, but Dean would allow him this. It couldn't have been fun to sit by and watch as his two brothers got some while he had no one.

And of course Cas was looking up at him, full on determination in his eyes that made Dean feel warm from head to his steel toed boots.

He nodded at his crew, "Okay, then. Gabriel, plot a course," he ordered and then went to the door on the other side of the room….only to walk into a doorframe webbed in clear plastic wrap and fall on his ass. Gabriel...

The loud laughter behind him echoed through the whole ship so that even Anna heard it all the way in her shuttle. Dean's shouting though was even louder.

* * *

Omagoodness...so tired...but, gotta finish the next chapter. Can't burn out now!


	6. Chapter 6

Notes: Had to add some more cute in here. I just...I really needed some fluff. I really really really needed some fluff.

leahelisabeth: Lol, I think Charlie, Becky, and Pamela represent the three different species of fangirls. I'm half Charlie half Pamela in that I'll act like Charlie, but in my head...I'm totally Pamela.

ship. me: Welcome back! HEARTS! And I'm from Acton/Concord! Another Masshole, YAY! Represent! And I think I'm going to do my best to keep up with the pranks for the rest of the series if it allows. I've just got to start thinking of some fun pranks for the crew to pull XD

Disclaimer: Day 245 and I have still been unsuccessful in capturing my prey. I still hold out hope though.

* * *

CHAPTER 6

Gabriel parked the ship a good distance away from the bordello as Dean ordered, not wanting to chance anyone calling in their serial number and setting off any alarms. Of course this knowledge had the whole crew groaning when they realized that they would have to trek through a few miles of desert before they would reach their destination.

Now, along the way all of them made some sort of comment or complaint about the heat, well, all except Balthazar. Normally they would all expect him to be the worst at handling sweat and walking in his fancy shoes, but he was walking a good ten paces in front of them with an exuberance that they had not seen in a very long time. The smile that had graced his features as soon as he heard that it was a whore house they were headed to had yet to falter in the slightest.

Of course his indifference to the scalding heat had earned him several scowls from the others.

"Come along, darlings! Can't be much further now!" he called over his shoulder as they all heavily trudged along. Both Dean and Castiel rolled their eyes in unison at this and adjusted the shoulder straps they had slung around their bodies. The heavy bags they were all carrying were absolutely filled with each and every gun and box of ammo that they had on the ship, and it was ridiculous how heavy the bags were to start with, and they only got heavier and heavier as the miles kept coming, but Dean was not about to be caught unprepared for this.

Then they heard Balthazar's shout of joy as a shiny rooftop came into view, but his smile faded as they moved closer and the appearance of the rest of the house was made clear. Anna felt a little bad that she hadn't warned him that this was most likely the case. Balthazar had come from a very rich background and was used to real Companions as well as the most upscale whore houses that populated the core planet that he grew up on. This was a dust ball moon and this was a far cry from the city paradises of flesh.

He turned back to the rest of them as they all caught up, "Is that the whorehouse?" he asked them incredulously, pointing at the shimmering and entirely silver plated building.

Castiel tilted his head in bird-like contemplation, "Perhaps the reason for it shimmering so is because it is in fact a mirage," he turned to Chuck, "Do you see it as well, or is my mind painting new images again?"

Chuck floundered, mouth opening and closing, "I-I see it. Please tell me the rest of you guys see it too," he asked in a panicked voice as if he was actually concerned that he was starting to see things.

Bobby let out a heavy sigh and slapped him upside the head, "Of course it's there, ya idjit," he scolded the mechanic.

"How come it looks like a frozen dinner pack?" Meg pondered out loud and this time it was Sam's turn to roll his eyes.

"It's solar sheeting. Cheap and easy power out here in a desert," he informed the group, earning him a elbow to the ribs by Gabriel.

"Let's just hope for Balthazar's sake that the whores are prettier than the house," the pilot finished with a wink at Anna, letting her know that it was all in jest.

Cas turned to Sam and Dean with a concerned gaze, "This is a den of iniquity. Are you sure that we should be here?"

Sam took that one for Dean as he could see his brother was a little occupied, "Well, uh, Bobby seems to think it's okay…"

Dean was busy scoping out the land around them, looking for any environmental advantages, disadvantages, open spots, good defensive lines…but all there was, was the house. The land around them was completely flat and barren with nothing anywhere but dust and sky. He didn't like the idea that they were so isolated out here, but at least he could take comfort in that when the attack would surely come, their attackers would have no cover whatsoever that they didn't have to bring themselves.

He wrapped his arm around Cas and pulled him close enough to his side that their hips bumped and out of the corner of his eye he saw Sam do the same with Gabriel. Obviously his little brother had done his own scan over the land and had come to the same conclusions. Both of them glanced over their partner's to meet each other's eyes, the two Winchester brothers nodding in determination.

"Okay, guys. Stop gawking at the house. Save some gawk for when we get in there at least," Dean said shortly and they all pushed on the last leg of their journey.

* * *

As soon as they all stepped into the low lit lobby they all had to squint at the sudden change in lighting. Once the blurriness had passed, they all took stock of the room. It was full of girls all hanging about, some making a show of themselves, draped about as if for customers, and some were just peaking around corners in earnest worry or curiosity. The room was clean enough for a place that no doubt was a bitch to keep the dust from coating everything. There were some nice looking couches and loveseats, most of them with a girl already occupying it, even a few half-clad men stood around the room looking the new arrivals up and down, as if they were a potential threat or maybe even potential customer. In the far corner there was a small bar where many fancy looking bottles lines the shelved behind them. It certainly looked a lot classier than the outside.

Dean was going to let Anna take the lead in this, but he didn't need to say anything because she was already pushing forward to meet a beautiful brunette woman and embrace her warmly. The woman was perhaps just a little older than the rest of the people in the house, and Dean assumed that this was probably Pamela, so he moved up behind Anna and waited to be introduced.

Behind him the rest of his crew just stood awkwardly in the doorway as they regarded the whores. Chuck was open mouthed and gaping, making a few of the girls giggle behind their hands. Meg of course was unabashedly staring at the fine samples of young and muscled men in the corner, not minding in the least that it made a few of them look somewhat uncomfortable. Sam was doing his best to keep his eyes above the necks of most of them, nodding politely as a very good number of the rooms occupants winked at him, and Gabriel, being incredibly mature would stick his tongue out in response to each wink he saw tossed their way.

As expected, Balthazar had greatly lightened up as they got inside and he saw his very fair share of flesh out on display and veered off to the closest couch to start chatting with the two lovely young ladies already sitting there, Bobby watching him do this with glare and a huff.

Dean kept Cas in the corner of his eye and smiled softly at the open wondrous curious looks he was casting about the room. The inquisitive looks he was giving most of the people there were just so innocent that Dean didn't even mind that Cas was currently interviewing one of the girls who had draped herself over his shoulders.

But he was brought back to reality with Anna's voice, "Pamela, it is so good to see you," she gushed.

The pretty lady smiled right back, a full and sly smile that Dean was sure that most trained companions like herself usually didn't have, "And it's great to see you too, my little red robin. You look exactly the same as the day I left. How do you even do that?"

"Sheer force of will," Dean commented in a friendly tone, liking the older woman's relaxed attitude. It reminded him of those rare moments when Anna completely let go of her training and was just herself.

Anna smiled sweetly at Dean, "Pamela, this is Dean Winchester."

Pamela's eyes trailed over his form unabashedly, "Oh my. Are you telling me that this fine specimen of alpha male muscley goodness is going to be our hero?" she fanned at her face, "Honey, you can save me anytime."

Dean quirked an awkward smile and glanced behind him at Cas, a motion that Pamela caught and grinned even wider, "Well, Captain, we really appreciate you coming by."

"It's no problem, really. Anna's family to us and if you're one of her trusted sisters, then I guess that makes you something to us too," he jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "The giant you see back there trying to not hit his head on the ceiling is Sam, my first mate. You go to him to answer any questions if you can't find me. And I'll introduce you to the rest later. They're good people."

Meg suddenly appeared at his side as she tugged on his sleeve like a kid looking for attention, "Yo, Captain. Can I have a forward on my allowance? Thinking I'm in a mood to get sexed up," she said casually and Dean blanched and pushed her away roughly before turning back to the smirking Pamela.

"Well…that one's kind of horrific, but she's a crack shot," he defended with a nervous laugh.

"I don't doubt it. How about we let your crew get settled and we can talk business. My office is right through here," the House mother invited, "Oh, and please tell me that wall of muscle and flowing locks of chestnut you call your first mate is coming along."

Dean smirked and nodded, already moving over to his brother's side, "Hey, Sammy, time to work. Don't worry about Gabe, he'll have his hands full with keeping an eye on Cas for now," he teased and started to pull his brother away from the many prying eyes heading down the hallway after Anna and Pamela who turned to address the room.

"The rest of you, there's food and some liquor at the bar. Just make yourselves at home," and she led the three Impala crew members away, leaving the six others once again awkwardly standing in the room.

"Oh, and watch your ass. I know a grabber when I see one," Dean whispered to his brother before they moved out of sight.

Chuck sidled up next to Gabriel and Cas, desperate to be near familiar faces as he felt himself already start to sweat in nervousness. He bounced on the balls of his feet, doing his very best to appear casual, but really he looked anything but. He decided that a conversation was needed and bumped Cas' arm with his elbow to get his attention.

"Hey, check it out. They've got boy whores! Isn't that thoughtful? Wonder if they serve the women as well," he pondered out loud.

Castiel glanced at the men that the mechanic had indicated, "I suppose we could always ask…" and he made a move to go to do so, but Gabriel held him back.

"Let's not and say to Dean that we never did," he said gently and pulled Castiel closer to his side again and kept a hand bunched in his trenchcoat to make sure he didn't wander too far off.

Bobby was standing nearby and rolled his eyes.

"Would you really lie with someone who you had to pay to do it?" Castiel asked Chuck earnestly, actually interested in the answer. He could never imagine ever really wanting to do such as he had never really felt the need to lie with anyone before Dean. The idea of paying for something that neither he nor the whore really wanted seemed like an odd concept to him.

Chuck sighed and looked forlornly over at the gathered people in the room, "Well, it's not like anyone else if lining up to, you know…And it's also not like I really have enough money anyway…I wonder if any of them do pro bono cases…"

At that comment, Bobby moved off to the bar and dug around in the small fridge behind the counter top and pulled out a few fixings for a sandwich. He was just laying on the mayonnaise when two younger looking girls approached the bar and sat down on the stools in front of him.

"Sheppard—"

"No thank you!" Bobby cut them off quickly, blood rushing over his face and up to his ears. He might not have been the best priest as of late, but he certainly wasn't about to…well, just no.

The girls didn't seem in the least bit offended and smiled sweetly at him, the younger of the two leaning in closer, "We were hoping we might have a prayer meeting?"

The other girl, a young blonde nodded eagerly, "We ain't had one in months, 'cept what Emma here reads out on Sunday," she said regarding the first girl.

"The last Sheppard to come by was springtime, and he only read the one passage…and then he took it out in trade off the both of us," Emma informed him, not looking to bothered by that even though it made Bobby think twice about eating the sandwich he had just made.

Chuck watched as the even the preacher started to make friends with the girls and sighed sadly again, "Everybody's got somebody…" he turned and noticed a scowling Meg off to his left, "Meg, you're a girl, right?"

Her scowl deepened and she turned to him, "You need visual evidence?"

Chuck blushed deeply, "I just…I mean I wanted to know that, as a girl, you would ever consider sleeping with someone like me."

She groaned and turned her glare to the ceiling, "Well, if Dean is gonna twat swat me like this…and you get me real liquored up…take away all my guns and knives…possibly drugged too…maybe you would have a chance," she shrugged, but Chuck's whole face lit up in wonder.

"Is it because you don't hate me?" he asked hopefully.

"No. It's because I don't hate or care about you enough to have already killed you," she said deadpan and then moved off to try and talk one of the men into a freebie. She had a way better chance at it than Twitchy over there.

Off to the side, two women emerged from the far off doorway, one of them incredibly pregnant and the whole crew took note that this was the woman that they were all called here for.

The other girl, Ava, moved Lisa across the room to where Gabriel and Cas were as they were the closest to them.

"We were told that there was someone among you who could look over Lisa?" Ava asked hopefully.

"That would probably be our blushing Bobby over there at the bar. We're just his back-up singers in case he needs some support," Gabriel told them, making both women frown in confusion, but they nodded their thanks and moved over to where Bobby was doing his best to keep his composure.

"Bobby? You the one who can help Lisa?"

Bobby looked up and nodded to them, "You look like you're feeling a mite weak right now. Let's go get you lying down and we'll see how you're doing," he said gently.

"Now that sounds like a plan, Preacher!" Balthazar called happily from the stair where he was currently heading to the second level with a girl under each arm.

At least he was having a good time, thought Cas happily and decided to move to one of the couches where only one blonde was sitting. Apparently her name was Chastity.

* * *

Gah, way too much fun with this chapter XD


	7. Chapter 7

Notes: Well...this is shaping up to be the longest one yet, but that was sort of expected from all of the build-up I'm adding for the rest of the series. Intensity! Just about to start chapter 13, and I'm pretty sure most of you will like it a lot.

leahelisabeth: And more you shall have! Enjoy!

ship. me: mmmm...ass grabbing...

Disclaimer: *too distracted to claim anything*

* * *

CHAPTER 7

Dean had to admit that he was just a little bit nervous as Pamela led them down the hallway. He wasn't too sure what to expect of her "office". Sam would scold him for his dirty mind, but Dean just couldn't help but wonder if one of the reasons for Pam getting the boot was some, uh, special techniques. However, the office actually turned out to be somewhat reminiscent of t the way that Anna had decked out her shuttle. It made him feel somewhat comfortable actually, as it seemed like familiar territory.

He didn't mind in the least to sit down on the couch, smirking when it contained as many if not more of the decorative pillows as Anna's stacked on it. Really, did these women really think it was worth it to put those things on here when all they did was take up space and make it hard to sit down without sending a cascade of plushies to the floor?

Right away Anna got them down to business, going into more detail with Pamela about who they were up against and what they might expect. It took a good fifteen minutes to go over alternative ideas to putting up a front, or going into any sort of confrontation at all. Dean had seen the young people out there. They might have had some decent numbers in people, but they weren't soldiers. Numbers meant nothing if they didn't know how to handle themselves, if anything they were even more of a burden.

Dean sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "So I take it reason doesn't enter into this whole thing?"

"Not with Rance Burgess. That man is a taker."

"Do you think that the baby is actually his?" Sam asked her, looking for all angles that they could play, but Pamela shot him a confident look.

"I think it's Lisa's," she said firmly.

"But the blood test…" Sam pushed and they all saw the House mother's shoulders sag.

"He did favor her pretty exclusively, but she had others. Fifty-fifty, not that it matters. The man isn't fit to raise a cactus plant. His barren prairie shrew can't bear him an heir to his fortune, so he seems to have taken it to heart that he can just pull one from one of my girls. That's not going to happen," and she got up from her chair to glance out the window, checking the horizon for anything. Nothing was coming their way at that moment, but she couldn't help but hate that it wouldn't be long before something was.

The Winchesters liked the strength and caution that the woman seemed to exude, "Well, we'll be our best to see to it that it doesn't," Dean informed her and he was happy to see her stance by the window relax a bit. This time when she glanced out the window it was more of just gaze over her own land.

"You boys see the way we live here. You go into town and it's the same damn thing. Some places come up rustic because all they have to set up on are the basics, but with Rance Burgess, he's got enough money to build a city, a real community on this moon. So he keeps the people living like this so that he can play cowboy, be the one with the best and shiniest toys," she spat out bitterly, "He turned this moon into a gorramn theme park. And if someone stands up to him…"

"He burns them out," Sam finished for her. He and Dean had heard of this guy's type before.

"I'm thinking this guys sounds like a big 'ol pot of sunshine and tickles. Maybe I'd like to meet him," Dean said, not a hint of smile or jest on his face.

"This won't be solved with talk. Even with your butt load of charm and good-looks, honey."

Dean shook his head, "If I'm going to fight a man, it helps to size him up," and Pamela gave in.

"Well, he'll be at the theatre tonight. He always goes to make an appearance among the locals."

Excellent, Dean thought and glanced over to Anna on his left, "Well then, so will I. So Anna, what do you think? Can you stoop to being on my arm tonight?"

"Will you wash it first" she dug at him and it was enough of an agreement for Dean. Sure, Cas would have probably loved the idea of going to the theatre for the night, but there was no way that Dean was going to take Cas and parade him around someone like Burgess. Anna could hold her own, and it kind of helped that she wasn't a wanted fugitive.

He turned back to Pamela to get some more details, but then he heard an ear piercing scream come from the lobby and all four of them burst out of the office, running towards the sound.

* * *

What they arrived to see was one of the girls, a blonde, throwing every decorative pillow within reach at Castiel who deflected them with casual brushes of his arm.

"Get out of my face! Leave me alone, bastard! Screw you jerk!" she threw another pillow and stormed out of the room, screaming another, "Screw you too," at Dean as she left in a huff. He just raised his hands in surrender before turning to Cas who was just standing there with his coat all messed up.

"The hell did you do?" he asked Cas incredulously and moved forward to see if any damage had been done. Most of these girls had freaking talons for nails.

Cas just shook his head in confused wonder, "I don't know. I just looked in her eyes and told her it wasn't her fault that her father Gene ran off. It was because he hated his job at the post office.

Dean rolled his eyes and couldn't help the smile that crossed his features. Hell, almost everyone in the room smiled at that. Even Pamela looked amused and moved up to rub Cas' arm soothingly, "Oh, don't you worry Angel Cheeks, she's a real firecracker and has a butt load of daddy issues to boot."

Gabriel snorted from behind them, "Who in this 'verse doesn't have daddy issues?"

"Cas, this whole industry runs on absent fathers, it's the natural order. And Gabe, I thought you were going to keep an eye on him?" Dean asked, suddenly slightly annoyed.

The pilot shrugged, "He was making a friend, who was I to interfere?"

"Well, feel free to interfere plenty from now on," he snapped, not at all pleased that Cas was already getting in trouble, "Anna and I are heading into town for some meet and greet, probably won't be back until late. All of you," he looked at the remaining members of his crew in the room, not wanting to think of where the others got to, especially Bobby, "…all of you just stay put and keep an eye on the horizon."

He glanced at Sam and wagged his finger in front of his and Cas' faces, "And no flirting you two."

He gave one last peck to a somewhat sulking Cas' lips before heading out the door. He and Anna had to go back to the ship to get changed it seemed.

* * *

The play turned out to be an overly dramatic retelling of the destruction and fleeing of Earth-That-Was. Hell, they did it all with freaking shadow puppets of all things and Dean had to stifle several groans through the whole two hour spectacle. All he could do was sit there and fantasize about other activities he could be doing, but had to stop when they perhaps got a bit too graphic for a public place and he had to put the program in his lap for a few awkward minutes. Believe it or not, there were actually people around the room who were crying at some parts. The only part that Dean felt the need to cry was at the end, and those were tears of joy.

As much as he wanted to bolt out of there, he still had a job to do and moved outside to where the patrons all gathered after the show to fawn and preen together. Anna looped her arm over Dean's and they moved over to where a crowd was forming around a tall man. Just from the pompous look on his face Dean knew that this was their guy.

He stood their lording over a particularly starry-eyed crowd. To Dean it looked like he was holding court, his guests laughing with disturbing frequency and force. The older, tired looking woman on his arm just stood there doing her damned best to look as regal as her husband, but she was a pale and slight thing, even if she was dressed a cut above every other woman there, fiscally speaking. That ugly conservative excess that somehow made people just _feel_ rich.

The Captain and Companion strolled into the crowd to listen in on the story that Burgess was telling.

"…so I told the boy, "you take a clean woman's virtue, you take the woman. And that's for life." And.."

A man in a fancy hat broke in, "Boy said his vows right then and there," he laughed in a forced way, obviously having heard Burgess tell this story many times before and not really wanting to have to hear it once again.

Burgess preened under the attention and adjusted his collar smartly, "And it took very little persuading on my part," he said smugly and patted the laser pistol that hung from his belt. Laughter once again broke out over the crowd, and this time Dean laughed as well, startling Anna, but his laugh was far louder than everyone else's, and lasted far longer as well until Dean was sure that all eyes were focused on him. Just how wanted it.

"Nice to know there's some places left in the 'verse where old-fashioned values still mean a thing, isn't that right, dear?" Dean asked a gaping Anna who quickly forced a sick looking smile.

"Oh, heartwarming."

Burgess looked a little disgruntled, but he kept composure for now, "I don't think I know you, sir."

Dean extended his hand, "Name's Dean Winchester," he said formally as they shook hands, and he leaned in a bit closer, "And might I just say? She is quite a beauty."

The man seemed to glow under the compliment and once again patted the laser gun before pulling it from the holster, "Well, thank you. You ever have the occasion to handle one, Mister Winchester?" he offered it to Dean with a flourish and a spin in his hand, "Silk trigger active return bolt laser," he said the name fondly.

Dean took it and looked it over, "It's lighter than it looks. Thought it'd have more heft to it," a nice way of saying that Dean thought it looked like a bulky hot mess and had no class to it at all.

"Oh, no! Don't let that fool you. Won't find technology like that short of Garrison. And even their issues don't yet have the auto-target adjust. Had that one crafted special. Took a pretty penny, but I do have a lot of pretty pennies to spare," he boasted.

To say that Dean was disgusted with this man was so much an understatement that it was subterranean, "I didn't think weapons such as this were generally legal…for private owners, I mean," he said casually, but his meaning at least not missed by the man's wife.

"My husband makes a distinction between legality and morality, Mister Winchester."

He gave her a small smile that made her burst out into a deep blush, "I've said that myself, ma'am."

"Bending the unjust law is a small thing when it come to protecting one's family," Burgess broke in, not liking the way that his wife was now full on staring at the stranger, "And of course…as you say, she is a beauty," and he took back the laser gun.

Dean had to smile even wider as he saw the anger rise in the other man's eyes, "Oh, she sure is. Of course…I was actually referring to the lady," and he nodded one last time to Burgess' wife and then the man himself before leading Anna away.

Burgess had half a mind to go after the man to find out more about the man that would say such things in front of his people, but the device at his hip beeped as a new message was delivered to it. He picked from his belt to see what was so important that someone would message him so late at night…his eyes never left the retreating form of Dean Winchester.

Anna was a little confused at Dean's abrupt and hasty exit from the town as he almost dragged her along and away from the crowds. The Captain kept glancing behind them as he moved them along.

The rounded a corner and his shoulders only relaxed a fraction. She looked up him up and down in concern, "Dean?"

"Dean, what?"

She sighed and put her hands on her hips, "You said you wanted to look him in the eye. Now you've done that. So what's the plan, " she demanded, looking for an explanation for why they were leaving so fast and with so little information gathered.

"Plan is…we get back to the Impala and we get off this rock just as fast as we can."

He grabbed at the stunned Companion and guided them away, pace picked up even more.

* * *

"And there can be no mistake?...Good," a sick smile spread of Burgess' face as he finished talking with the doctor he had hired. His wife took notice of the smile and meekly looked up at him, "Rance?"

"The DNA matches. The child is mine."

She shivered at the look in his eyes and turned away.

* * *

Next chapter up tomorrow! See ya then!


	8. Chapter 8

Notes: Sorry about not posting yesterday, but this weekend has been crazy with school work and I'm still not done and I haven't been able to write any new chapters and I'm behind D'X On the bright side though! Only 15 more days till classes end for me. This is just the mad rush of finals and projects.

leahelisabeth: Lol! Yay, I'm doing my job then! XD

ship. me: Oh, I am a professional creeper ;D Glad you likey!

Disclaimer: All that you see here...all that the light touches does not belong to me.

* * *

CHAPTER 8

Almost all lights in the house appeared to be off when Dean and Anna made their way back. It was indeed late like he had warned, almost four am, but he didn't feel much like sleeping in the least when he arrived. He stepped into the dimly lit lobby with Anna behind him, thinking that it would be dead inside, but instead there were the forms of a few of his crew around the room, all looking to be quite awake.

Meg was sprawled on one couch, and Chuck on another, both not asleep just yet, but wishing they were. Gabriel, Sam and Bobby were all sitting at the bar with half empty tumblers of scotch in their hands, each of them propping their heads up on their hands. They seemed to be watching something moving across the dimly lit room.

That's when Dean caught sight of Cas as he moved forward with his arms brimming with more of those decorative pillows, he walked right past the others and dumped the load into what seemed like a gathering of all of the pillows in the entire house. The stack was rather impressive, but that didn't stop Dean from being incredibly confused.

He raised a questioning eyebrow at those seated at the bar. Wearily Sam raised his tumbler to his lips and took a quick sip before answering, "It started a few hours ago. We aren't sure if he doesn't want us all sleeping in different rooms in the house and is making a pillow fort, or if he's starting a pillow collection."

"We're still collating data," Bobby grumbled and took a healthy sip of his own as his eyes trailed after Cas as the young man went to roughly pull the pillow out from under Meg's head.

"Yeah, and an hour ago we had to stop him from knocking on doors asking the others for their pillows," Gabriel snorted. Dean didn't laugh though, he moved over to where Cas had just dumped another armful of pillows and had started to push them into some sort of formation.

"Maybe he thinks he we're having a pillow fight and he's gathering ammo!" Chuck chirped from the couch trying to be helpful, but everyone rolled their eyes at the suggestion and he slumped back into the couch cushions.

Balthazar, who was seated on the floor by the pillows looked up at the Captain with a somewhat desperate and somber look in his eye, like he wanted Dean to make this right. Dean couldn't look him in the eye though, he just knelt by Cas and idly fiddled with one of the pillows that had come loose.

"Cas? You making a nest for us or what?" Dean asked gently, resting a hand on the smaller man's shoulder.

Cas shrugged, "I'm setting up a barricade to make the fall bruise less."

"…Right, well don't you worry about that, buddy. We won't be here much longer."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Dean's head rose as Pamela came into the room along with at least eight others of the house, the pregnant girl as well held up by Ava. Both Dean and Anna turned to her.

"Mei-mei…Dean is just trying to help—" Anna started but Dean stopped her with a hand on her arm. He would be the one to tell Pamela.

"We're running," he told her firmly. She just stared at him as he continued, "Math just doesn't add up. Our weapon store is decent, but now I'm thinking we're going up against something a bit more impressive."

Even his crew looked a little surprised at this and Meg and Chuck sat up from the couch while those at the bar forgot their drinks. The young people grouped around their House mother started to shift nervously. Dean met their gazes without flinching.

"There's nothing worse than a monster who thinks he's right with God. We might turn Burgess away once, but he'll keep coming…he won't stop until he gets what he thinks is his…so we run," he told them seriously. He had seen people like this before. Sam too and it was always the same. It reminded him a bit too much of Zachariah Greene from that party who didn't stop until they literally had to put him down.

To her credit, Pamela didn't even look surprised and nodded, "I understand, Captain Winchester. You have your people to think of, same as me. And this isn't your fight."

Dean shook his head, "Uh, I don't really think you do understand, Pamela. I said "we run"," he waited for her to react but she continued to stand there with her arms crossed over her chest. A stance of defiance that Dean was quite used to dealing with having grown up with Sam as a brother.

"We, Pamela. My people and your people and whatever bits of precious you all have got in this house you can't bear to part with. We take it all and load up the Impala and we leave Burgess in the dust. I'm sure we can find a nice place for you guys to set up house again," he pushed, but she just stepped closer to Dean, her face full of strength and resolve.

"Captain Winchester…It took me years to cut this piece of territory out of other men's hands…To build this business up from nothing," Dean opened his mouth to speak but she put a beautifully manicured finger to his lips, "Listen Hercules, it's who I am. And it's my home. I'm not going anywhere."

Sam was watching the interaction and knew that this would be a hard battle to win. He knew that if the positions were reversed, Dean would be doing the exact same thing as the older woman. He would want to stick by his home till his last breath, even if it took his last breath. It was only when the two brothers were on the outside of situations like these that logic took over emotion. And logic in this case was to run, just like Dean had said.

The younger Winchester stood up and moved over to the pair who were trying to out-glare each other. Only reason why Dean hadn't blinked yet was probably practice with Cas…

"Listen, Pamela. Dean is right. This guy will kill you," he gestured to her people in the room, "and then he'll kill every last one of them if it comes down to it. And he'll sleep well that night," he told her, honesty in his voice and eyes.

"Burgess is just a man and I'm not about to let any single man take what's mine. I don't doubt that you and your brother would do any different if you were where I'm standing, " she stated, and both Winchesters deflated a little bit, knowing that they were caught.

Sam had to glance behind himself to where Gabriel was standing next to Bobby and then to Dean. He knew that he would stay to defend their home with his brother to the very end, and Dean's face told him that he was thinking the same thing.

A small smile played on Dean's lips as he shook his head slightly in amazed wonder, "Well, lady I must say…you're my kind of stupid."

A snort came from Bobby who downed the rest of his glass, "Ah, hell. He ain't expecting much of a fight. Might be we catch him with his drawers down. I'm still in."

Around the room a chorus of affirmations rang out, everyone choosing to stay on even if it wasn't their home to defend, they knew what it was like to have someone trying to take away what little they had.

Dean felt a swell of warmth and pride in his crew for being so willing to do this, "Okay, then. Well…what I think is that he probably won't stroll in until daylight, but I still want a three point watch, four hour shifts, just to be on the safe side.

Gabriel rubbed at his chin thoughtfully, bumping his shoulder into Cas', "Yes. Yes…Three-point, four-hour, should do it," he said with mock-expertise, pulling a smile from many around the room who were starting to look a bit nervous.

"I'm fairly handy with a hammer, Dean. I've been following in the footsteps of a carpenter for some time now. I think I can do something about out fortifications. Chuck too," Bobby told him with a tip of his hat.

Dean clapped and rubbed his hands together, "Right, we're going to have to start getting a whole bunch of things ready," everyone perked up around the room as they waited for what came next, "when they start shooting, they'll most likely try to burn us out and save the sweat and bullets," a few of the girls flinched.

Sam nodded in agreement and turned to the House mother, "Pamela, what's the water supply like here?" thinking about how they could put out any fires.

"Underground well. Pump that draws it up is old as dirt, but it doesn't break down," she answered promptly.

Dean swung around to Chuck, "You think you can swing an upgrade for their waterworks?"

Chuck nodded and smiled eagerly, "I'll head back to the Impala and see what's laying around that we could use."

"Good, good. You might also want to scrounge up—"

Cas suddenly appeared at his side with wide eyes tugging frantically at his sleeve.

"What is it Cas?" Dean asked, fearing the worst and glancing out the window of the room.

"It's starting," he whispered harshly, and then broke into a fit of stifled giggles as if he was revealing some gossip.

"Shit, really?" he asked in a pained voice. They were so not ready yet, but then he heard a pained yelp from behind him as the pregnant girl Lisa clutched to her stomach and started to pant through her first contraction.

"Sheppard Singer!" Ava called to Bobby and the preacher quickly ran over muttering a few hail Mary's under his breath.

Dean eyes bugged out of his head, and glanced in between Cas and the girl, "Oh! You mean…_that's_ starting! Okay. Okay. It's starting. All right. Now. Yeah, uh, everybody relax. Be calm. Nobody panic. Everybody…." He glanced at Bobby, "It's okay?"

"I got this one, boy. You might have to find someone else to work on the house though," Bobby told him as he guided Lisa away.

Dean blew out a breath, "Thanks. Awesome, okay," and then he looked around at everyone else, who were all smiling and at the brink of breaking out into laughter at Dean's little freak out display.

Even as the full body blush started to work it's way over his features, Dean cleared his throat and resumed his herocical authority as he clapped his hand together again, "Okay then! Meg, you're taking over Bobby's job and you can have Jake and anyone else's help you need. The rest of you, Sam and I will give you all something to do. Let's get to work!"

* * *

It only took a few minutes to send everyone off with one chore or another and as soon as a path was cleared to his brother, Sam headed over to him. Dean was at the coffee table in the center of the room where he was having Cas draw out a detailed sketch of the house so that he could use it later when he went over tactical positions. For a moment Sam paused and watched the two interact.

He knew that this was going to be hard on Dean, even if it hadn't hit him just yet. They had been avoiding it for as long as possible, but this would be the first time that Dean willingly would have Cas present for a firefight. Everyone knew how fiercely protective Dean was of Cas. He used to be the exact same way with Sam until his younger brother had proven himself time and time again…as well as getting into quite a few spectacular screaming matches, but Cas hadn't had much time to prove himself in the field of battle so to speak, not in front of Dean anyway. Even now Dean had one hand delicately placed on Cas' back, slowly rubbing up and down in a comforting manner, perhaps even a bit possessive.

He remembered Dean telling him something that Cas said though…that whatever they were trying to do with Cas was to become some kind of soldier. Maybe he was more ready for this than Sam thought.

Dean took notice of Sam standing there lost in thought and got up from the table with one last squeeze to Cas' shoulder. He moved up next to Sam so that their arms brushed against each other as they both looked to where Cas continued to draw, completely focused on his task.

"You okay with all of this, Sam?"

"Of course. What about you?"

"Can't fault these people for wanted to protect their home," Dean answered quickly, "but I was more wondering if you were not too happy about Gabe being put back in the line of fire so to speak."

Damn. Dean really did know him too well. Sam had been doing his very best to not let himself think of it, but of course his brother would be able to see past all that. He blew out a breath, "He can take care of himself, and if he can't I'm going to be right there to watch his back."

He watched Dean nod in understanding and nudged him with his elbow, "And what about Cas?"

"I've got his back."

Sam sighed and nodded, "Right. I knew that, but what about the rest of him? I mean…is he okay after everything from the last two weeks? He's been a little more wonky than usual…"

He saw the shadow pass over his brother's face and knew that he had hit it on the nose, but just as quickly as those green eyes darkened, the look disappeared and was replaced by his brother's fake smile, the one he used when he didn't want to worry Sam.

"He's okay, Sammy. He's just a little see-sick from seeing too much. Apparently our bottled up emotions just get transferred onto him."

Sam frowned and glanced over at Cas worriedly, "Sea-sick? Is he still getting nauseous? Does Bobby know?"

His brother snorted softly, "Nah, man. Not sea-sick. _See_-sick," he pointed to his eyes, "from seeing too much. Like it? I came up with it myself," he said somewhat proudly and of course Sam's response was a magnificent rendition of bitchface # 24, the "My brother is such a dork", face.

He sighed though as he glanced over at Cas who was still so intent on his work that his nose was probably only a centimeter from the table surface.

"Well…if he's _see-sick_ then is he going to be okay in all of this? And what about from now on? I mean, it's not like we can start holding weekly crew therapy sessions so that emotions and such don't pile up. Meg would sooner go on a shooting spree."

Dean shrugged, "I dunno, man. I've become so good at hiding feelings that I usually forget where I put them to begin with. But…we can figure this stuff out later. He just let loose a flood the other night and should be good for a bit. We've got bigger, uglier and about to turn rotten fish to fry."

As upsetting as it was to hear that Cas was effected by even hidden emotions, he was glad to know that Dean was still able to try and make a joke. That meant it wasn't too bad…yet. He would have to at least talk to Gabriel about this later. It was important that he knew, if he hadn't figured it out for himself already.

"Okay, Dean. Just…let me know if I can help. I'm going to go on south border watch. See you in four hours jerk."

"Till then, bitch."

* * *

Okay, that pillow scene? That was actually a deleted scene of River from Our Mrs. Reynolds that I wanted to include. It also had a bit more to that scene, but I split it up to come up in a later chapter. It was cute and I had to use it XD


	9. Chapter 9

Notes: Hello hiya! This is coming to you from my genetic engineering class where the professor is talking about duck penis'...yeah.

leahelisabeth: Oh noes! Not the ankle! I did that last year during winter exams and I was flying high on pain killers when I took half of my tests. I'm still surprised that I passed all of them! Feel better and join me in the world of the Impala for your daily doses of man-angst and feels! I'll even include some cookies in this chapter for you to enjoy!

ship. me: *giga gasp* I made a new friend!? :D And I indeed included the rest of it, but I had to warp it just right XD Gah! I know! Poor Cas! I focus on this a bit more in the later chapters and such cause, G damn, does this crew know how to repress!

Disclaimer: *quietly sips on her diet pepsi that she doesn't own and is not advertising in the story that she does not own*

* * *

CHAPTER 9

Dean would have liked to just think that it was really early, but for him and Castiel it was more like really really late. It wasn't difficult at all for Cas to ride out the night without stopping, drawing diagrams, fluffing the pillows again, gathering extra wood for those who were nailing planks along the windows and weak spots. Most people Dean had ordered to get at least two hours of shut eye that night, but it was hard to do as the whole house was bustling with noise and activity. The nervous fear and hammering especially made it difficult to sleep, but they were just exhausted enough to try.

They had all been waiting to hear the cries of the baby through the night, but so far all they had heard was Lisa's. A few had been concerned, but Bobby assured them that sometimes it just took a bit longer. Even so, Dean made sure that either Gabriel or Cas were in the house just in case.

As the sun rose, Dean had Sam and Balthazar "gather the troops" for some quick shooting lessons. Most of them had never even held a gun before, and a few even were scared to pick them up, but Dean ushered them all outside and started to fill each weapon with blanks, not wanting to waste too much ammo.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dean spotted Cas once again fluffing the pillows and paused a moment. He had never actually seen Cas with a gun before. Well, Sam had mentioned that one time when they saved Dean from Dick, but he never actually heard how Cas handled himself with that. Chuck and Anna as well…

"Cas."

The other man's head shot up.

"Go find Anna and Chuck and then all of you come outside for a bit. I want you all to take some lessons too," he said shortly.

"I believe Chuck is already outside working on the water pump, but I shall go find Anna," and he was off.

* * *

Dean moseyed his way outside with that knowledge and quickly spotted his mechanic and walked up to him, "How's it going?"

The small man sighed and wiped his dirty hands on his shirt, "Just about finished. I was just tweaking things."

"Good. Then you're going to come with and I'm going to make sure that you know how to handle a weapon. Anna and Cas will be getting trained too," Dean told him just in case Chuck might feel a little insulted, but the mechanic just paused as he reached down to retrieve his toolbox.

"Uh, you sure you need to train Cas? I mean…"

Dean frowned, "What? What are you talking about? Of course I want him trained."

Chuck's face drained of color, "N-nothing. Forget I said anything," and he scurried off leaving a very confused Dean literally in a cloud of dust.

* * *

"Okay! Listen up all of you!"

The gathered students all stood at attention at Sam's loud voice ringing out over the crowd. Once he decided that everyone was tuned in, he turned to Dean and nodded to his brother. It was the Captain's turn.

Dean looked them all over, most of them holding the guns already too tightly or far too loosely in their hands, like they were afraid to drop them or more afraid to touch them. He didn't have time to nit pick though.

"As much as I hate the idea of handing off weapons to inexperienced individuals, we don't have much in the way of time to make you experts. So we are going to make this quick and you better keep your eyes open else you might miss something that could save your life."

He and Sam both took turns going over the basics of reloading, posture, grip, what to do if it jams, and aiming. Both of them had been trained as children by just having a gun thrust into their hands by their dad and then were taught real gun maintenance later, much like they were doing now, and it made both of them feel a little guilty that they were using the same rough technique that their father had used on these young people. However, both brothers felt in their element. They had both gone through this countless times before when they were training new Hunter recruits back in their war days. Dean was head of the platoon so it had been up to him to make sure that his people at least had the basic know how before he sent them off to battle. Sam, his second in command, had also helped out once he had signed up for the war. They worked side by side, falling back into old routine. And even thought the scenarios that this routine fell into were less than pleasant memories, it was a comfort to have the other there.

Eventually they had reached the part of training where they would start taking those who had shot off a few blanks and were ready to try a real bullet or two for aiming. Dean would deal with those while Sam continued to work with the others. As it was, it was quickly apparent the both Anna and Cas were more than ready. Perhaps even Chuck. They would be his first to fire rounds it seemed and Dean was actually rather pleased and proud that it was his crew members that were first.

While walking over to them he spotted another, a dark skinned young man that Dean was pretty sure he had heard called Jake before. The guy was clearly comfortable with the rifle he was using, no longer flinching back with the blasts. Dean gestured for him to head over to Cas and his crew. He could easily train the four of them at once.

"All right, looks like you guys are a few feet ahead in this mad dash, so we're going to get started on the next step," he said as he handed each of them three bullets to load up. All of them were able to load their weapons well enough and stood ready not a minute later.

He told them all to take stance, and then pointed to the empty liquor bottles set up on a fence about 60 feet away, "Chuck, you go for the green ones. Anna the clear," he called and they both set off their shots.

Anna was able to get two out of three, the second one was a lucky nick though that knocked it off the shelf. Chuck was able to get a clip on one that also sent it to the ground. It wasn't great, but it would half to do. He turned to Cas and Jake, but he didn't see Anna and Chuck tense up when Cas got into stance and lifted his weapon.

"Okay, Jake. There are fewer bottles on the table now, so it's going to be a little harder for you. You're going to have to really aim. Same for you Cas. Jake, green. Cas, clear. Now shoot," he told them and waited for the volleys.

Jake whipped up his weapon and let out three fast shot, the first two shattering their bottles and the third getting a nice solid nick that left half of the bottle standing. It was pretty damn impressive for someone who had never held a gun before. Dean whistled and nodded his approval and then turned to Cas who had not shot yet.

"Cas? If you're worried about the bottle's feelings, I assure you that it'll be okay," Dean joked, trying to cover his concern. Cas was just standing there looking at the gun in his hands and shifting it slightly to feel the weight of it. His eyes looked somewhat haunted and alarms started to blare in Dean's head.

"Hey, hey. If you can't do this, that's fine. Here, I'll take it the gun, Cas," he held out his hand for the weapon, but Cas didn't give it back. He looked sadly down at the gun and then at the bottles down the way.

His shoulders were slumped heavily, "I want to protect. I want to help. I don't want people to be afraid," then without warning he lifted the gun and fired off the three shots rapidly, hardly even looking up. Everyone stared at him and then glanced at the table where no more bottles had shattered.

"Well…that was anticlimactic. I'm going to go work on the house now," Jake said dryly and stalked off, clearly all done with training for the day. Dean didn't crack a smile though. He wasn't sure what just happened, but he was missing something. He turned to Cas who was staring blankly ahead.

"Hey, man. It's alright. We'll figure something out for you. Why don't you go help Sam with the others. You've got a good stance and could show the kids ho to straighten up."

Cas nodded and moved over to the younger Winchester, a hesitant smile on his face.

A hundred yards in the distance, no one could see the corpses of three rattlesnakes all dead from bullets through their heads.

* * *

Training was done for the day and Sam couldn't be happier because it meant that he could finally step out of the sun for a bit. He had a really impressive burn going on, and it looked like Dean and Cas weren't far behind. He turned to the smaller man who was helping him gather up the disposed of weapons.

"Cas, why aren't you healing your burn? That can't be comfortable," he commented lightly.

"I do not wish to waste energy on it in case…just in case," he replied, but regarded Sam's own burn, "I would be willing to heal yours if you feel it necessary. Could be distracting in battle I suppose."

Sam snorted, "Nah, I'm good. Dean and I have had way worse and gone into battle just fine."

"Perhaps Gabriel would wish to take care of it?"

Sam chuckled again, "I'm fine, I promise."

"But…if you go talk to him then you can tell him," Cas urged, a big smile spreading over his features that somehow didn't look quite right.

"Uh, what? Tell him what?"

Cas rolled his eyes and leaned in close, "That you want Bobby to marry you two," he tried to whisper, but in his excitement it became louder at the end as it broke into stifled laughter.

Sam's eyes bugged out and he almost dropped the rifles he was carrying, "What? We- I? No! What?" he frantically glanced around them to see if anyone heard.

"Two by two, everyone a mate, a match, a dopple. He loves you," Cas urged, eyes pleading with him to understand.

Sam however, was floundering. He knew that Gabriel loved him, but somehow hearing it from his psychic brother who was suggesting marriage…it just seemed to be a whole new level of intensity.

'Cas, I…We can't be married, are you crazy?"

Cas' mouth dropped open in angered shock and slammed his foot down on Sam's, crushing his toes.

"Ow! Sorry! I didn't mean crazy, I mean that it just isn't really in the books right now," Sam said out of clenched teeth. For a guy in bare feet, somehow he had really smashed down on his boot.

"Then write it in the book! That's what margins are for. I know you will be happy and I can grow the flowers for your wedding. And I know that Gabriel doesn't know how to, but I'll learn to knit for you two! Every good stable couple in the books has at least one partner that knits," Cas said, practically begging at this point.

Finally, Sam was able to brush off the shock of what they were discussing and thought let the thoughts run through his head. For something so crazy…it sure seemed like a pleasant idea.

He looked up at Cas shyly, "Let's get you back inside before you burn up anymore. Dean would be pissed if I bring you back a charred marshmallow," and they started to head back to the house together.

"There is just one concern with your marital future."

"Oh?"

Cas nodded seriously, "If you were to marry, that would make Dean and I brothers-in-law. I am unsure if that would count as incest."

* * *

Ah,yes. The second part to that deleted scene. I had to add it in somewhere! Hope y'all liked! I'm off to developmental biology class!


	10. Chapter 10

Notes: Great googly moogly! It's another chapter!

leahelisabeth: OMG! Dick of Death! I love it! XD And as for cannon deaths...we'll just have to wait and see, but I swear I won't kill as much as either series. Not that it would be hard for the supernatural one ;)

ship. me: Indeed! I was doing my best to balance the scary and the cute. I call it scute. It's a new genre I hope that fanfic adopts. And if you're curious, I know a lot about the mating rituals of rabbits and fish as well.

Disclaimer: No goodies for me :(

* * *

CHAPTER 10

It was organized chaos at its best. Meg, Chuck and a few more of the young men in the house were all hammering away at the planks, boarding up all the weak points. The poor mechanic feeling slightly self-conscious as the stronger males eventually took off their shirts when it got too hot. Meg wasn't about to start complaining though.

Sam and Gabriel were going over to outdoor plans, magnificently drawn diagrams courtesy of Cas littering the table, to see where would be the best places for their makeshift booby traps and were just about to start setting them up.

Anna ran by with an armful of steaming towels and headed up the stairs to Lisa's room.

Cas and Dean were around the house distributing weapons to the defense points, leaving boxes of ammo in nearby locations for whoever would be stationed there. And Balthazar was supposedly setting up a crow's nest of sorts for if any of them decided to take on a sniper role, Dean wasn't too sure what was taking him so long with that.

There was very little chatter besides the occasional voiced concern or request for a new chore. It was something that Dean had seen before, soldiers getting all quite before an anticipated battle. You got lost in your head a lot in the moments before entering a dangerous situation, and you forget the presence of others around you. It could be good if people were thinking about what was to come, to prepare themselves, but it was bad if instead they were only focused on the death part of it. Wouldn't do to work up your nerves that way.

So when Cas walked by someone who was "absent" in their eyes, he would be sure to send them a wave of comfort, and Dean who spotted more of the same would squeeze a shoulder or two. It was more effective than any pep-talk.

It was getting to that point that Bobby was pretty sure that even once the hammering finally stopped, he would still hear it in his head for the next week. He had been very busy keeping Lisa as comfortable as possible as they were heading into the tenth hour of labor and she still had a bit further to go, and even her screams through contractions were not enough to cover up the noises around the house. Ava had been a huge help, but he could see that both the girls were well on their way to exhaustion and they hadn't even gotten to the hard part yet.

"I'm going to go fetch us some orange juice to wake us up a bit. I won't be gone five minutes," Bobby told them after the latest contraction ended. Both of them nodded wearily and he stepped out of the room.

He didn't even make it to the kitchen before being stopped by the first set of girls all asking about Lisa. He told them that she was holding her own and tried to keep moving. It was like trying to get through a busy space station in this house, each hallway filled with people pushing by with heavy loads and weapons. He almost got barreled over by the young man, Jake, who was pounding down the stairs with a hammer and prybar in his hands.

He was just about to step into the kitchen finally when the two young girls from earlier stepped in front of him with twin worried expressions. The first girl, Emma, was wringing her hands nervously, "Um, Preacher? The girls and I've been talkin'…well, we been discussin' what we'd like said over us if we should happen to fall—"

Damn, he thought. These girls were barely 20 if he was generous. Babies. This whole damned house was full of babies in his old withered eyes. He made sure that they both were looking at him when he spoke, his voice and gaze as honest as he could make it, "No. I only bury the dead, darling. No one here is going to die," he tried his best priestly smile and it worked. Both girls smiled back at him.

* * *

"Now people are going to die."

Meg had finally finished up the hammering and was now setting up her own little corner of the battle, two of her very helpful and shirtless men from earlier right there with her as she explained to them how things would go down. They had asked her what to expect, and by the hell fires, she would tell them. And she had a big shit eating grin on her face as she did it, much to their horrified expressions.

"…and when people start dying, there will be tons of guts and screaming. Now for pussy's, that can bring on all sorts of screwed-up behavior if they ain't ever been in a bloodbath before. When the time comes, most important thing is to keep your wits about you. Am I clear, boys?"

The men all nod eagerly.

"Good, now may I direct your attention away from my chest and to my amazing collection of weapons."

Laid out before her was indeed the impressive contents of the armory of her room in all its shiny metal splendor. She pointed to the row of guns closest to her and glanced at her helpers.

"All right. Now, these sexy little babies are momma's favorites. I'll be shooting, and the moment I run out of bullets I want you to hand me the next in line. You guys are to keep them coming until there are all gone from the line, then I want you to hand me the next bunch, starting with the biggest and so on. You guys feel me?"

"Yes, ma'am," they answered eagerly and she smirked.

"Well, now that the dumb stuff is taken care of, anyone of you want to feel more of me?"

* * *

Gabriel was pretty sure that he could hear the skin on the back of his neck sizzling away as the sun beat down on him. It of course would fall to him and Sam to set up the outdoor booby traps, as Sam was the genius behind the design and Gabriel was almost as good a mechanic as Chuck. So here they were, Sam idly kicking sand over the trip wires to hide them from sight while Gabriel finished hooking up the electronic bits. Things had been quiet between the two, no matter how many times the pilot tried to start up conversation. Sam just seemed to be in his head today, and it was starting to bug the self confessed attention whore. The kids inside weren't the only ones who needed distraction from the upcoming battle. Gabriel was just as nervous about what might happen to their crew once the fighting started. He worried for his brothers, for his friends, and especially worried for Sam.

Balthazar seemed to be able to handle his own, but Castiel…he had been a little off lately and with all of the bad that seemed to keep plaguing the Impala, well, it was enough for the pilot to keep on his toes. He would be glad to just take all that he loved and just hide it away somewhere where nothing could touch them anymore. He wondered if it was worry over the upcoming fight that had Sam so quiet.

Sifting his hand through the dirt, he picked out a small rock and tossed it at Sam's ass, smirking when it bounced right off and got some decent distance. He smirked even more when Sam tossed him a withering look.

"Sorry, Sammy-kins. I couldn't help myself."

He didn't sound sorry at all, but Sam didn't call him on it. Instead he looked back to the ground and kicked at random stones, hands in his pockets. A clear sign that something was bothering him. Looked like they were in for a doosey of a conversation and Gabriel took a minute to steel himself for it.

"Okay, spill. What did I do? Is it the laundry again, cause I swear I checked all my pockets for chocolate bars." Or maybe it was the oatmeal that he had put in Sam's boots the other day? Or maybe it was about the food coloring in the shower head? Nah, that last one couldn't be it. The red dye had washed out days ago... Actually, this could be about all of those things and the pepper in the orange juice this morning was the last straw.

"We've been together for a year now."

"What?" Gabriel actually stumbled over his own feet, not expecting that to be the first thing out of Sam's mouth.

"A year. A year ago today you told me your real name and who you really were. I've kind of thought of that as our anniversary of sorts. I mean…we danced around each other for five years before that, but officially it's been a year."

Gabriel nodded slowly, trying his best to process this, "Oh. Okay, um. Did you want to celebrate or something? If I had known I would have planned a fancy dinner and littered our bed with rose petals or something. I'm sure Pamela has some stuff around for us…"

Sam chuckled softly, but it was without real mirth, "No, I'm not expecting to celebrate. The whole impending doom thing kind of put a damper on that. I've just been thinking about things…"

"Things? Thinking? Sam, those words are the killers of decent relationships. We're one "we need to talk" away from full on break up. If that's the case I get to keep Chuck," Gabriel tried to joke, but he was all but shaking in his boots.

"I'm not suggesting we break up, Gabe. I'm suggesting that we…maybe start thinking about the next step."

"…getting a dog?"

"Getting married."

Gabriel reacted much in the same was as Sam did when Castiel first brought it up, eyes bugging out and mouth sputtering.

"What? We- I? No! What?"

"Marriage, Gabe. Us. You and me _becoming_ an 'us'."

"Us is great, and as far as I knew we were already and 'us'. Why…what brought all this on, though?"

He could see Sam quickly growing a little agitated, and perhaps a little offended at Gabriel's attitude, but he had to admit that it was something rather big being suggested here and to just throw it out there like this…

Sam shrugged, "Well, I love you, and you love me and we already live together, Dean hasn't killed you yet…"

"Well it's very nice that he hasn't killed me and all, but think about how crazy things are! Look around you, Sammy. We're setting up a freaking booby trap outside of a whorehouse and you think it's a good time to get married?"

"I don't mean today!"

"When, then? We've barely had any time for each other in the last two weeks with everything that is going on with my baby brother, and if Dean's haunted looks are anything to go by, things aren't going to change anytime soon! Things are a mess!"

Sam moved right up to Gabriel and grabbed his arms tight, "And it would be nice to just have something stable for once? This could be something stable for both of us, and the crew too. Hell, Castiel could use…Cas really needs the ship to have some more happy moments."

Gabriel frowned, "There something you need to tell me? Cause it's sounding like you may know something I don't."

"Dean said…that our pent up emotions are part of what's making Cas bug-out. And since we've all been a little "dark" lately…" he didn't have to finish, Gabriel would understand that more than anyone. Sam could see the thoughts flitting through the pilot's golden eyes.

"Sam…It might help, but as far as I know, weddings are happy affairs. And I would want ours to be as happy as we can make it. That won't happen if I'm too worried about my baby brother crumbling into a thousand broken pieces. If you don't believe that, then go ask Dean how he would feel about getting hitched while you were one arm out of a straight jacket. It's not that I don't want it. I just want it to be right."

"Then we are always going to be waiting, Gabe! Things are always going to be rocky for all of us. Our lives are dangerous and unpredictable and I could even lose you tomorrow and that would be it for us. I just want to have that one thing that I can count on, but I'm not so afraid of losing something that I'm not going to try and have it. You and I deserve to have this. Period."

Sam finished with one last gentle squeeze to Gabriel's arms before walking away, letting the pilot think. There was a damned lot to think about after all.

* * *

Oh noes! More relationship troubles! Hang in there babies!


	11. Chapter 11

Notes: Wow. Just wrote part of the fight scene for later and I have no idea where some of it came from. Now I feel like a terrible person, also a little twisted for coming up with a somewhat very morbid poem.

leahelisabeth: Oh, I have plenty in mind for them and also Sam ;) I swear it's like you're in my head sometimes, which is nice cause I get lonely.

Disclaimer: People own things. I'm a college student. I am not people.

* * *

CHAPTER 11

The sun was just about to set on their little moon and things were finally winding down a bit. Dean had checked, re-checked and then had Sam check and re-check all the stations around the house to make sure all was secure, all the guns were loaded, and ammo was well within reach at all times. Most of the house's occupants had either gone outside to get in a little more practice with the blanks before dark while the others had gone to sleep or prepare a quick dinner of sorts.

Lisa was still bedridden, letting out periodic and impressive screams that carried to most corners of the house. She was drenched in sweat and breathing hard as Anna and Ava mopped at her brow with a cool cloth. It had been going on 17 hours of labor so far and they were all incredibly exhausted, but not as much as Lisa, obviously.

At the foot of the bed, Bobby was peeking under the tent of sheet over Lisa's bent knees, trying to see how far they had come. Not very, he noted and then he heard soft footsteps approaching the door and turned to see a wide eyed Castiel poking his head around the door frame his mouth completely agape at what he was seeing.

Bobby gave him a short nod of greeting and right away Cas ducked his head bashfully, knowing that he wasn't really supposed to be there, but he just couldn't stay away. There was something very special going on and he felt drawn to it. Bobby noticed this and didn't shoo him off just yet. Kid was just curious and his innocent expression was just too honest for Bobby to ruin by kicking him out.

Instead, Bobby just updated him on what was going on, feeding into the young man's liking for new knowledge, "She ain't completely dilated yet. Once she is, it will be pretty quick, but for now the contractions are still preliminary.

"What's he saying?" Ava asked.

"It's going to be a little while longer is all," Bobby answered.

Lisa groaned loudly, "Oh! Really? What taking so long?"

"Actually the average amount of time spent in labor is 12-18 hours. Historically there have been records of women who spent three weeks in labor. You have only reached 17 hours, five minutes and 43 seconds at this point," Castiel informed her shyly from the doorway. The looks of horror on all of their faces were completely lost on him though.

Bobby cleared his throat, "Uh, I'm going to go see if I can find some birth safe painkillers in my med bag."

Castiel perked up at this as Anna crossed over to Bobby who was digging through the drugs, "Uh, Sheppard? How many babies have you delivered?" she asked worriedly.

"Um, I was an army medic mostly. Not many pregnancies on the battle field, but there was a lady who stopped at our monastery one night and me and another preacher took care of her. Mostly him though," he confessed. She nodded.

"My first time too."

"Mine too," whispered Castiel as he slowly edged into the room and over to the side of the bed.

Bobby and Anna stare at him a moment before the preacher sighed and pulled off his hat to rub at his sweaty forehead, "It's going to be a long night."

Lisa started to scream as another contraction hit, making Cas flinch and step away from the bed a few feet. He turned wide panicky eyes to Bobby.

"Is the creation of a new life always so loud and sweaty?"

They chose not to answer that.

Outside in the hallway, Dean had been walking through the house looking for weak spots and such, and maybe he had an ulterior mission to locate where Cas had gotten off to, but mostly weak spots. He stopped outside of the door and peaked in when he heard Cas' question, smirking at the innocence of it.

Nobody seemed to notice Dean in the doorway as they were all focusing their attention on Lisa. However, Dean's attention was focused on Cas as he slowly crept back towards the bed, wary that she might start screaming again. He moved closer and closer until his knees bumped the edge and then he slowly moved his hand towards the panting girl.

Finally the others took note of Cas' movements. Ava bristled and looked like she was about to protest, but both Anna and Bobby silenced her with a look. Lisa was watching him warily, but she had a gentle soul and didn't move away from his touch as he brushed his fingers between her eyes.

Right away her panting eased off a little bit and the wrinkles in her forehead smoothed out. She sighed happily and melted back into the bed with a soft smile.

"Cas?" Bobby asked after a brief pause.

"I only took away some of the pain. She needs the rest to guide her through the rest of the process. She still has a while to go," he said quietly and left the bedside to meet Dean at the door, not at all surprised to see the captain there.

Dean however, was very surprised at what had just happened before his eyes. Not so much the healing thing, but just Cas taking away the pain from a young girl. It made him wonder why the Host would even want Cas back in their grasp if he was so pure. Surely they should have given up long ago trying to distort him into something, mold him into something else. A soldier, Cas had said.

He greeted Cas at the door by pulling him out of sight and into his arms for a tight embrace and a deep and tender kiss that left them breathless.

"You're amazing you know that?"

Cas shrugged and ducked his head as he blushed.

"Okay, Nurse Castiel. I'm going to go look over the plans again and you should maybe find somewhere else to hang. They've got a long night ahead of them."

Cas nodded, but cast one last glance behind them at Lisa's swollen belly as they walked away.

"Who do you think is in there…?"

* * *

Dean was still too focused on his task to veer off and was going over the diagrams on the table once again trying to spot the weak points. Cas had curled up by his side a while ago like a cat seeking warmth and had been watching Dean work. It was a mite distracting to have him so close and Dean couldn't help sneaking a few glances down at the tousled head in his lap every few moments.

It had been one year now. One year since Cas had come barreling into his life and stirring things up until Dean wasn't sure what was up or down anymore. It had been an exciting ride, that was for sure. Scary too, but when he really thought about it, he wouldn't have had it any other way. Even staring down the eve of battle, he was frighteningly happy to be here.

It was his own little secret anniversary in his head, his own little holiday that he didn't share with the others. He didn't even know if they remembered what day it was or what it meant for all of them. He was even a little embarrassed that he was so disappointed that he couldn't celebrate it by the normal, or traditional means.

He couldn't take a drink to toast another year together because it was a strictly no alcohol policy at this point as they waited for battle. There was no grand feast of simmered and spiced protein blocks as the only dinner that he and most of the others had gotten was sandwich and an apple. No party, no music, no dancing…there hadn't been much laughter either except for the little pranks that the crew had continued doing even as they were hard at work.

He smiled as he recalled how just a few hours ago Sam had gone to take a drink of water only to find a big plastic spider in the bottom of his glass, a gift meant for Balthazar. Or how Gabriel, finally back on a planet had been digging for booby traps and had deposited several beetles in Chuck's hair that the mechanic hadn't noticed until one crawled across his face as he tried to talk to one of the house girls. Dean remembered running towards the screaming after that and being surprised to find Chuck there. He had thought it was two _girls_ screaming.

Cas had yet to notice the prank that had been pulled on him. It was mostly because Cas never took his coat off and probably wouldn't notice the many sticky notes dotting the back with all of the cute nicknames that his brothers had used to call him as children. Dean's personal favorites that he had read so far were "Castiella" and "Huggy Bear".

He fondly ran a hand through Cas hair and laughed when his hands were batted away. This is when Pamela walked into the room.

"That man of yours, Balthazar is going to use of all your credit before he's even earned it," she joked.

"Father used to have Balthazar do chores to make up for overspending his allowance," Castiel commented, his voice muffled by Dean's leg.

Pamela snorted, "I'll keep that in mind, but I'm willing to overlook it since you got added to this little pickle."

Cas sat up startled, "When did we become porcupines?" he demanded.

"Pickle, Cas. Not prickle."

Pamela was now outright laughing at the two of them, "Oh, boy. You and your crew gotta be some of the more 'unique' ones to come through my door. I can't imagine what's it's like for Anna to live with all of you under one roof. I suppose the copious amounts of eye candy helps to ease it though. Tell me, are their weekly crew orgies?"

Dean chuckled while Cas' head tilted in confusion, "Well, we're an odd conglomeration, but we got along well enough. Like any family we have our moments and drama," Dean told her seriously, but his eyes were drawn to the wooden pox that the House mother held in her hands, "What'cha got there?"

"Ah, these are the real reason I'm here…besides wanting to have you two fine cut boys within pinching distance. I wanted you to look these over for me."

She opened up the box to reveal four fancy pistols all neatly organized, nestled in stain fabric. There were classics, for sure and Dean had to let out an appreciative whistle. He picked up the first three and gave them a quick go-over. They had been well maintained it seemed, but he noticed that the models were so old that none of the crew's ammo would work for them. Pamela had shrugged and said she had a few rounds for each one.

"They all look like they will be fine, but I'll have Sam or Meg give them a quick practical later," he said and went to reach for the last one. She got a fond smile on her face when he looked it over.

"Oh, may I say how fine you're making my favorite weapon look right now," she smirked. Cas bristled at his side but didn't say anything. Dean didn't look up from the gun, but still moved his knee so that it bumped with Cas'. A comforting gesture.

"So what's its history then?"

"Violence and crime, sad to say. Something so beautiful and still a damned powerful tool for killing. What about you?"

Dean shrugged, "Similar."

"Hmm. Well, I think you've done all you can at this point. Perhaps it's time you two take a break from all this planning. As you said, isn't likely Burgess would come at night and it's already dark out. I know more than a few of my kids who are more than willing to work their trade with you. You deserve to spend some time relaxing in the best way possible tonight," she winked.

Dean's mouth started gaping as he looked between Cas and her, "Uh, I've, uh, I've got the job on my mind. I don't really need to 'trade'. They're a fine bunch, but…I'm more than all set."

"Yes. He is set," Cas repeated firmly.

"Oh, don't you worry, honey. I trained as a Companion and I can read people pretty well. I knew he was taken with you."

"Then why suggest otherwise?"

She smirked again, but didn't answer his question, "I've got a room all set up for you upstairs. Third floor, second door. It's got the best soundproofing in the house," she tossed over her shoulder as she picked up the weapons and headed off. Her sly smile never faltered as she left the room.

Cas was scowling, Dean was biting his lip.

Eventually, after the awkwardness had plenty of time to stink up the once semi-relaxed atmosphere, Dean started to stack up the papers before him, cleaning up the table.

"I think I'm going to call it a night then," he stated as he stood up and turned to face Cas, "Are you going to want to come up with me?"

Cas sat back with his arms crossed over his chest, "Not if we won't be alone."

"We'll be alone. I don't know why she said that. You're the only one I want in my bed tonight and every night after…" he realized how girly that sounded and winced, throwing his hand out for Cas to take. Reluctantly Cas unfolded his arms and grasped the offered hand to stand up, but he didn't let go after that and perhaps was gripping a bit too tightly if Dean's flinch was anything to go by. He also made sure to glare at each and every person they encountered as they went up to their room for the night.

He glared especially hard at one young man in particular as he brushed by them and headed outside.

* * *

Okay, this chapter is up for the day. On to studying! *fake smile with overenthusiastic thumbs up*


	12. Chapter 12

Notes: Ah, yes. This chapter was indeed needed. As if I would let such a scene go to waste!

leahelisabeth: Yay! I can actually say that there is another person in my head now! :D Oh, and The Shiz will go down eventually and it'll be awesome and I know you're gonna like it ;)

ship. me: Oh man, I just wrote a scene that I think you'll like and hate with equal passion then, but that's not till a little later ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Please don't arrest me! I don't do well with my hands cuffed behind me! It makes it hard to type and derp on the internet!

Warnings: ahem...you get a warning, for uh, content.

* * *

CHAPTER 13

As he pulled back the silken sheets on the bed, Dean couldn't help but notice Cas still looked a bit peeved at what Pamela had said. Hell, even Dean had been bristling that Cas had been staring at each and every person that passed them in the hall. That fiery look was for Dean's eyes only.

Pushing off all but two of the many pillows from the bed, Dean started to get undressed, starting with just his shirt. He was just about to start on his pants when he noticed Cas' fuming expression melt away to one of despair as he flopped down on the bed still fully clothed.

"C'mon, Cas. Don't mope. You know that Pamela was just messing around, right?"

Cas groaned and turned his face to Dean, "I am not "moping", you are. You have been all day."

Dean ducked his head and covered his face with his hands. Of course Cas would have been feeling his upset over the lost anniversary and his own despair over what Cas was going through. Here he had been all concerned and worried over people being concerned and worried and it all piling up for Cas, and here he was the worst offender. Nice going Dean. You've really got this protecting Cas thing down pat.

Cas sighed loudly from the bed, "And now the cloud thickens. Please don't make it rain again…today was supposed to be a happy day," he whispered the last part.

"You mean the baby that's on its way?" Dean asked as he sat down on the bed by Cas' head.

"No. Time might be an arbitrary and relative phenomena, but as a human it hold meaning for us. Like today holds meaning for us."

A happy flutter went through Dean's stomach when he realized that Cas had also been thinking about the year on the ship as a noticeable event. He smiled shyly at Cas and nudged his elbow into his ribs, "Hey, Cas. I think I have a confession to make."

"Confession is one way to unburden oneself, but perhaps I should go get Bobby for this."

Dean chuckled and moved closer, his nose brushing over Cas' neck, "Well…I haven't sinned just yet, and I'd feel more than a little awkward if he was here when I did."

Cas quirked an eyebrow, "You expect to accomplish something sinful then, do you?"

Dean pulled back slightly, honesty in his gaze as he looked into Cas' eyes, "Only if you're up to it. I know it's been a long day and…kinda a long week as well and…"

Cas shut him up with a kiss. It was soft, but not without heat and they broke off to catch their breath. Taking advantage of Dean's bare chest, Cas moved in for some light nibbling along the exposed collar bone and neck. If he went about it right, Cas was hoping to leave a few visible marks for all, especially Pamela, to see in the morning.

For the first time that day Dean was feeling lighter than air as all the weights of responsibility and worry slipped from his shoulders. Cas was like a freaking soothing ice pack after a long day. And to Cas, Dean was probably like a warming sunbeam chasing away the cold. The thought made Dean chuckle, making his chest vibrate against Cas' mouth. The smaller man pulled back with a small frown as his nose was bumped.

"You have never been ticklish there before…"

"Nah, man. Wasn't that. I was just thinking that we were kinda like fire and ice, and that when we get together we make—"

"Puddles?" Cas asked innocently, head tilting to one side. He was more than slightly confused.

Now Dean laughed outright. A wonderful sound that sent warm shivers through Cas.

"Steam, Cas. Steam."

"Oh."

All talking was cut off as Dean finally couldn't hold back any longer and reached up to cup the back of Cas' head and pull him down for more deep kisses. Cas was more than happy to comply and practically melted against Dean's chest, hands roaming over every inch of skin within reach and eventually falling to Dean's belt to fumble it open.

He didn't even bother wasting time in getting the pants completely off. Instead, as soon as the belt was loose and the fly unzipped, he dove his hand inside and cupped at Dean's growing erection, making his partner break off their kiss with a sharp gasp.

"Jesus, Cas."

The smaller man smirked and gently squeezed again. This time Dean moaned and thrust his hips up to further the contact. At the same time he dropped one of his hands down to start tugging the many layers covering Cas impatiently.

It didn't take him long before he had him bare and spread on the sheets below him, a flush of red spreading over his chest as things started to get more heated. Dean took one look at the heaving chest and dove in to lick, nip and kiss his way from collar bone to pecks, and then from belly to cock. He took Cas into his mouth with a vigor that he wasn't expecting. He wanted nothing more than to hear Cas moan above him, writhe beneath him, and oh God please…have him call out Dean's name in that sharp gasp.

He was so lost in trying to give Cas as much pleasure as he possibly could, that it was only when Cas stopped tugging at his short hair and shoved Dean's face away that he looked up into those blue eyes and swollen lips.

"Cas?"

Cas shook his head and pulled Dean up so that their noses bumped, "Not like that. More," he whispered.

Dean's eyes widened, "Really? You sure?"

One short and gaspy yes was all Dean needed and he went from lusty to fumbling with anticipation in a matter of a second. He captured Cas' mouth with his own, using his tongue to mimic what Cas had just given permission for while with his hand he started to search the bedside table drawer for what they would need. His fingers closed around a small jar and somehow managed to open it without looking and dipping his fingers into the cool jelly. He only let it get warmed up a bit before he moved his hand onto Cas' hot length and started to stroke even beats.

Cas felt the movements that Dean was making, the passion he was exuding, the lust, the need, the want, the love…he felt a lot of things, but he wanted to feel more.

"Dean…"

His partner didn't need any more encouragement and while keeping rhythm with his left hand on Cas, he slowly trailed his right hand down between Cas' legs to find what he was looking for. A bit more jelly from the jar and he gently pushed one finger in, looking at Cas' face for any signs of discomfort, but he seemed to be enjoying Dean's hand on his length if his slightly parted lips were anything to go by.

As he slipped a second finger in and started to scissor them gently, he couldn't help but smile as he thought about everything that brought them here. A whole year of unimaginable struggle, pain and fear, but all he could recall were those stolen moments of pure joy and happiness at finding someone who accepted Dean for who and what he was. He never believed in anything until someone so pure believed in him.

He slowed down as he gently pushed in the third finger, careful since it was Cas' first time doing this and he wanted his partner to feel nothing but good. As he did this, he moved his mouth onto Cas' neck and buried his face there, whispering quiet words of comfort and love in his ear.

Cas could barely hear him, he couldn't even process the words being said. He was lost in the flood of new feelings that rushed through every molecule in his human form. He didn't even have control over his own body anymore. He was gasping and bucking uncontrollably as Dean worked his fingers inside of him, hitting that sweet spot that shocked his whole being. He was completely surrendered to Dean. It was too much and not enough all at once. He wanted to say something to Dean, but he couldn't form the words in his head, let alone say them out loud.

Cas was so pliant beneath him. Dean knew that he was ready and laid one last tender kiss to Cas open mouth and moved down to position himself. It wasn't until he was all lined up that he paused, taking a deep breath and glancing one last time up into those beautiful blue and trusting eyes.

He saw Dean look up at him, asking one last time if this was okay and his love for Dean swelled again, making his eyes swim with color and their almost entwined auras. All he could manage was a short nod, and then Dean was slowly pushing into him. He panted through the first long thrust that had Dean fully inside. There was so much to feel. Him. Dean. Dean feeling him. Cas feeling Dean. There was just so much and his mind started to float away…

It just felt so good, Dean thought as he felt the enveloping heat clench around him. It felt even better when he fell the walls around him relax enough for him to start thrusting gently. Not too long after the first few, Cas' own hips started to push back, meeting him in a wonderful rhythm. The amazing feeling of being entwined with someone you love only had Dean picking up the pace, Cas matching him as if they were in sync. Soon they were both gasping as the bed rocked beneath them.

Dean hadn't realized that in their passioned frenzy, he had let his eyes shut. He couldn't believe that he was missing the look on Cas' face through all of this and he glanced up in the next second, not wanting to miss anything else.

What he saw was Cas' blissed out expression, lips parted as he panted and moaned. Eyes unfocused. His hands clenched in the pillow under his head. It was beautiful.

Cas wasn't sure where he was anymore. The sensations and emotions had completely enveloped him as they all crashed together in great waves. Somewhere in the distance he heard his name being called. The voice familiar and he latched on to it like a lifeline and pulled himself back.

He came back to the feel of Dean still working inside him, mouth by his ear again as he called his name softly.

"Shh, shh, Cas. It's okay. I've got you. I've got you," he said, making sure that Cas didn't drift away again on the sea of sensations. He had seen the glazed look in Cas' eyes and had know right away what had happened. But now he had Cas back in the present with him and he wouldn't let go, "I won't let you fly away."

That's when Cas threw everything he had into meeting Dean's thrusts and propping himself up to capture Dean's mouth with his own. They were nearing the end and he could feel the pressure building inside of them. Then they finally came together, Dean watching as Cas' mouth opened in a silent scream as the climax rocked through him.

They both collapsed on the sheets, sweaty and sated. They laid together there, just holding the other in his arms and basking in the afterglow, still not ready to come back from their high and face the reality of what might be coming ahead of them.

Right before Cas fell asleep, he felt Dean press a soft kiss to the top of his head and whisper, "Happy anniversary, Cas."

And they were happy in that moment.

* * *

Dean awoke only a few hours later, when the sky was still dark and the house was silent. He glanced over to where Cas was curled at his side and noted the open eyes staring back at him. He quirked an eyebrow at once again finding his bed partner staring at him, but Cas only shrugged.

"I only needed one hour after our activities, but it was warm," he said, answering Dean's unspoken question.

Dean chuckled, "I swear, sometimes I think you only like to use me as a bed warmer."

"Don't sell yourself short. I like to use you as many things."

Dean leaned over and bumped their foreheads together, "Thanks, I think. Now you stay here and keep the sheets toasty for us. I'm going to check around the house, okay?"

Cas nodded and melted back while pulling all the blankets to wrap around himself in a cocoon, making sure that every inch of the fabric would be warm for Dean's return.

"Check the pillows while you're downstairs," Cas called after him.

* * *

He was pleased to find that the four on duty were all aware and awake, and that all that were not on duty actually were asleep. They would all need to be well rested.

He stepped outside and glanced over the horizon, using the moonlight to check the distance for any approaching enemy, but it was empty and the night was silent. He stood there, letting the cool night breeze rush over his skin. His activities with Cas, and the fresh air around him...that paired with the fact that he might die this day just served to make him feel all the more alive.

He was pretty sure that was messed up thinking, but he was a messed up person. It fit.

He moved back inside and walked into the lobby where some of his crew had gathered to sleep. Meg and Chuck sprawled on two different couches, half their limbs touching the floor uncomfortably. Sam and Gabriel were the only others there, even though Dean was pretty sure that they had been offered a room and bed. Maybe the beds just weren't long enough for his brother's freaky long limbs…Now both of them were on the floor, having taken a few pillows from Cas' pile to sleep. Hopefully they would put them back where they had found them tomorrow morning.

He leaned on the doorframe as he looked at Sam. As kids when they had shared the same room, it was a sort of ritual to check in on his little brother whenever he got up in the middle of the night, when he went to bed at night, and then again when he woke up in the morning. Even now he couldn't help but smile at his brother sleeping so soundly, his perpetually long hair a messy rumple on the pillow. He looked so peaceful it made Dean's heart clench to know how much that Sam worried about him. Dean did his best to shield him from the worst of it, but sometimes he just couldn't keep all his pain in, and it was now up to Sam and Cas to keep him together, and all it ended up doing was hurting Sam and Cas more.

He just couldn't win. Cas felt bad because Dean felt bad, and Dean would then feel bad for making Cas feel bad. It was one fucked up, tragic and endless loop that he wasn't sure that he could cut. How was Cas able to stand even being around him?

Dean couldn't stand it at all. He was meant to take care of them, not the other way around.

* * *

Slowly he made his way up the stairs back to their room for the night. He stepped into the room and smirked at the lump of blankets on the bed. One corner of a sheet lifted up so that Cas could peak his face out. He was frowning.

"You got all cold again," he said, sounding a little miffed, "Come back to bed so I can warm you up."

Dean complied. He really did want to be warm again.

* * *

Yeah, kinda felt weird posting this in the morning, but...whatevs? But but but, Cas getting all lost and overwhelmed in the emotions and sensations D"X gah! I had to!


	13. Chapter 13

Notes: PLOT! PLOT! I FOUND SOME PLOT AMONG ALL THE FLUFF! IT WAS HIDDEN BUT I FOUND IT!

leahelisabeth: I haven't gotten to yet *gross sobbing*, but if I get all my work done and get a break at the relay for life thing my school is holding (i"m being recruited as a face painter) then I'm gonna watch that episode so hard! And for whatever reason, this story brought out ALL THE FLUFFY FEELS in me and I don't know where they all came from! D: I'm scared! I may need a big ol' pile of Winchesters to fall into as well! And that better exists or I'm going to stop believing in the Easter bunny.

Disclaimer: *sobs quietly while holding her guinea pigs as comfort*

* * *

CHAPTER 14

"So the whore's got herself a champion, has she?"

Burgess stood in the middle of the darkened street as night covered the town. Most of his men were gathered around him as he spoke to a young man who had knocked on his door at this late hour with information.

Jake nodded stiffly and Burgess had to crack a smile.

"Well, this great man got a name?"

"Winchester. Dean Winchester," Jake spat out. He didn't particularly dislike Dean, but the Captain was leading them all to their deaths. He just didn't understand why everyone in the house was being so damned stupid and all ready to lay down their lives for the baby of a monster. Jake had spent his whole life looking out for himself, and now would be no different. In a way, he was actually protecting the house by ending this sooner. He used to be a soldier until the war ended and he found himself jobless and hopeless. He knew when the odds of the fight were far out of their favor, just like now.

Burgess chuckled darkly at the name, "Oh, yes. I've met the man. How many does he have with him?"

"Just a few, and only two real fighters besides himself. Nine of his crew and our 25 house members. Oh, but one of his people only has half his mind present and can't shoot for shit, "he smirked when he thought about that Cas kid who couldn't even hit one bottle, "But…this Dean guy has got the others all stirred up and thinking that they will be able to help in the fight."

The men behind Burgess all shuffled nervously as they crunched the numbers. They might not be trained, but 25 people with guns shooting random…they had a good chance of hitting something. Burgess didn't seem bothered in the least. He let out a loud laugh.

"I certainly wasn't expecting a battle!" he turned to face his men, "Seems the Heart of Gold Bordello has got itself a few mercenaries Guess we better call the whole thing off!"

A few of his men looked relieved while the others looked disappointed, but then they noticed the smirk on their boss' face. Ah, right. Sarcasm.

"I want each of you to gather up the rest! I want to have at least forty men here in ten minutes armed and ready to go!" he suddenly screamed at them, making several jump before racing off to follow direction. A few remained by his side. He smiled contentedly and turned back to Jake.

He clapped him on the shoulder, earning him a glare, "You've earned yourself quite a bag of silver, kiddo. However…I've got a few more chores in mind before you get it though."

Jake frowned, but he had expected as much. People like Burgess weren't satisfied easily.

"As long as I get paid and the house still stands when you clear out."

Around them, men started to aggregate as they moved quickly from their houses. Each of them holding weapons tight and had horses standing beside them ready to ride. They knew better than to keep the boss waiting.

Burgess looked over them, pleased and then roughly pulled Jake forward for all of them to see as he addressed the growing mob, "Our boy here has given us a heads up so we don't walk into this little fray unprepared! He understands a whore's place! He keeps his clientele pleased! And I am mightily pleased."

The crowd cheered in forced enthusiasm.

"…But Pamela and those others, they spit on our town! They got no respect fo' the sanctity of fatherhood, for decency or family! They have MY CHILD held hostage to their decedent ways, and that I will not abide!"

More cheers rang out.

"We will show them what power it! We will show them what their position in this town is! Let us all remember right here and now, how they measure up against real men!"

He turned back to Jake, no longer smiling, "Get on your knees."

Jake looked at him startled and then at all the men watching, but Burgess was unwavering and slowly Jake complied…

The men around them cheered again, louder than ever before.

* * *

The sun slowly crept over the horizon and filled the room that Dean and Cas were sleeping in, the rays first finding their way right to Dean's eyes and blinding him. He woke up with a snarl that quickly turned to a content sigh as he felt Cas moved his head in front of the light and then moving in for a morning greet and kiss. There they were in a warm tangle of sheets and a tangle of limbs, content.

They didn't stay in bed long, mostly because Cas seemed a bit eager to get going for whatever reason, mumbling something about Gabriel messing up his pillows downstairs. It might have been more than that if the slight twitch at the corner of his eyes was anything to go by and Dean also got dressed quickly so he could get downstairs faster.

It was when they were fixing up the room that Dean noticed the jar of jelly on the side table and smirked as he recalled what they had done the night before. While Cas was still fixing the sheets, Dean moved over to put the lid back on and that was when he looked at the label and saw the small note written on it.

_Had a feeling you two would be needing this. Enjoy boys!_

_-Pamela_

"She played us," Dean whispered in horrified as realization hit. She had planned that whole jealousy thing to get them together! Now more than ever Dean truly believed that Pamela indeed had been trained as a Companion. But he really couldn't be mad as he looked over to where Cas was now placing half the pillows back on the bed and stacking the rest by the door for them to carry when they went downstairs.

He smiled fondly put the jar back before walking over to Cas, "Here, hand me a few of those buddy. Don't want you tripping on the way down the stairs from not being able to see."

* * *

They walked into the lobby just as Sam and Gabriel were waking up and working the horrendous kinks out of their backs from sleeping on the floor. Sam noticed their arrival and gave his brother a half-hearted scowl when he noticed how refreshed he looked, but the scowl fell quickly as he felt Gabriel nudge his arm and gesture to Cas.

Gabriel saw the change right away. For someone who knew how to read "glows", Cas was glowing pretty damn hard himself. Also he had that content smile that only could come from really good sex. Last night his little brother had been tense and a bit frazzled, but now…yup. That was one satisfied little Cassy-bear.

With one nudge of Sam's arm and a waggle of his eyebrows, he clued him in and both of them turned to Dean with twin smirks. Dean noticed the looks and stopped in his tracks like a deer caught in headlights.

"Um…Morning?"

"Morning," they said in unison, somehow making it sound like an accusation.

Dean knew they knew, but it didn't stop him from trying to save face, "We, uh, he was having a bad night and got a little…uh, we just…Hey! Big fight today!"

"Oh, Dean, please," Gabriel chuckled.

"Hey, I'm not going to start…excusifying or nothing. As if you two have any right to say anything," he defended.

Sam sighed loudly, "Dean…We're glad."

But Dean was still on defensive mode, "You know, I was up…and I got to thinking and that kinda bugged Cas, and he doesn't sleep and…wait, glad?"

Gabriel laughed and slapped a friendly hand on the frazzled Captain's shoulder, "Yes! Not only have you made my little baby brother happy and removed the stick from his ass to replace it with something else, but you gave him comfort, and I'm grateful."

The blush on Dean's face right now couldn't have been more noticeable if someone had taken a red paintbrush to him, "Well, uh…"

"No need to be embarrassed, Dean-bean! We're all adults here!"

"I know, I just didn't want you thinking I was taking advantage of him."

"Oh, he's well worth taking advantage of, I am sincerely glad you did," Gabriel said, and it truly sounded honest.

Dean relaxed a bit, "Okay. Yeah. Awesome."

Sam chuckled at his big brother's awkwardness, "Yeah, you're lucky. I thought Cas would have better taste in men."

Dean was still too embarrassed to think up a come-back and chose instead to just go deliver the rest of Cas' pillows to the pile. He felt safer there.

* * *

An hour later, after a quick breakfast with the crew, Gabriel and Chuck were trekking back to the Impala, both chugging back coffee and covering the lids as much as possible to keep sand from flying into the steaming mugs. They both felt the odd and unfamiliar weight of pistols on their thighs. Dean had insisted that everyone have a weapon on them at all times from now on until the battle was over and they were off this dust ball. Chuck had decided to pretend that the weight was a hammer that he had linked in his belt loop. Gabriel wouldn't let himself think of it anything but a weapon to keep his family safe.

The seriousness of what was so come had the coffee in their stomachs turning sour and they both jumped, cups sloshing dangerously, as Dean's voice rang out over the radio that the pilot held.

"_You guys there yet?"_

Fumbling the drink in one hand, Gabriel pulled the radio up to his mouth, "Almost! Nice day for a last stand, innit?"

"_Nope, mostly cause I plan on making a healthy few stands after this one. Just hoping for some air support from you guys, is all."_

"Sure. A couple of low fly-overs, engines tipped earthward at full blast, should give our guests something other than killing you to think about. I'll pop right back in there to uh, lend a hand, as soon as I can," the pilot finished.

"_That's what I like to hear. And don't forget to cover out serial numbers. Dean out."_

Chuck glanced at the pilot warily, "You don't look as happy as you sound."

"I'm not, but I'll deal."

It was the truth. Gabriel was indeed not pleased with how things had turned out in how they were being split up. Dean wanted to have some air support, and for that he would need one of his two pilots to fly the Impala. It had been a very hard decision in the end. First off, Dean wanted Gabriel nearby for any medical emergencies, but Sam was the better soldier and his skills would be better used in the actual fight. Then Gabriel wasn't happy to leave Sam, Cas and Balthazar without his help and he only stopped freaking when Dean reminded him that he would do everything in his power to keep an eye on Sam and his brothers. If Gabe pulled the air support right, then there would be no problem. At least they still had Cas for any emergencies.

Still…Gabriel wished he could be there with them.

"Did Cas and Dean seem a little funny to you at breakfast this morning?" Chuck asked suddenly, pulling Gabriel back to the present.

The pilot chuckled and picked up the pace, "Oh, Chuckie. We all know I'm the funny one."

* * *

Dean prowled the halls to make sure everyone was is position and had their weapons at the ready. They hadn't seen any sign of their enemies getting closer, but Dean somehow knew that they were well on their way. Each and every one of his crew had been fitted with a radio earwig and were off pulling last minute checks on those on the other floors of the house.

He tapped at it and called out to his people, "Okay, boys and girls. Everyone all locked and loaded?"

A chorus of affirmative answers rang back.

"Good," he said shortly and then raised his voice to carry to all those on his floor, "Now everyone remember, shoot the man, not the horse. Dead horse is cover, live horse is a great big pile of panic."

"_Also horses are magnificent creatures and innocent of any crimes,"_ Cas chirped out over the radio, bringing a few smiles to the crew around the house.

"Roger that, Cas. Now come down to my floor now. We're handling the third level," Dean chuckled. Then another voice rang over the radio.

"_Whoa now darling, that's just plain dirty—"_

A look of horror crossed over Dean's face and saw a matching one on Cas as he appeared at his side. He tapped at his radio again, "Balthazar? Are you aware that your radio is transmitting…"

* * *

On the fifth floor Balthazar swore and scrambled around the girl in his arms to try and tap his radio as Dean continued to talk over it.

"…_cause I don't feel particularly girlish or dirty at the moment."_

Finally Balthazar was able to get at his earpiece, "Oh, ah, yeah, just up here waiting Captain. Ready one hundred percent!"

"_Better be…"_ he could hear Dean's scowl over the radio and winced.

Time to get down to business it seemed, and he reached down to grab his gun and handed the other pistol to the girl next to him.

"Don't worry, my dear. You can handle my preferred weapon once all this is done."

* * *

Okay, finally the shiz starts going down in the next chapter! Woot woot! :D


	14. Chapter 14

Notes: Quiet on the set!...and...ACTION!

leahelisabeth: OMG that episode was sooooo cute! And Charlie did the thing, the thing with the badge, and Sam's messy hair, and that hug and AGH!

Eri: *blush* so glad you liked :D

Ship. me: Oh, jake is a naughty naughty boy in this.

Disclaimer: Just gonna stand there and watch me roar, but that's okay cause I'm a dinosaur...but really I don't own this.

* * *

CHAPTER 15

Lisa threw her head back as the next contraction ripped through her, a scream forcing it's way out of her. Anna winced as her grip on her hand tightened, but she didn't complain. Her hand was of far less concern than what was happening to Lisa.

"Come on, Lisa. You're stronger than this, honey. I can feel it in your grip," Anna smiled sympathetically as Lisa screamed again, "Lisa, this is just a moment in time…step aside and let it happen," she cooed.

From the doorway, Pamela stepped in behind Bobby where he was checking her progress.

"How is she, Preacher?"

"She's at ten centimeters. Not long now. Cas' little boost ran out an hour ago, but she's holding strong," he tossed over his shoulder, consumed in his work.

Pamela looked over to Anna and caught her eye. They shared a subtle exchange of looks before Pamela winked playfully at her, getting a bright smile from Anna. Apparently her sister had been successful in her efforts to get Dean and Cas to _relax_. Seemed she had not lost any of her Companion manipulative talents.

"It's going to be impossible living with them now," Anna snarked, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, you'll be fine as long as you don't live in the next room over," Pamela gave Anna a bump with her hip and then turned to Lisa, "You stay strong girly. We've got you covered, so you just focus on bringing that little bundle of joy out to meet the rest of us."

* * *

Dean was methodically checking over the rifles he had lined up on the wall, Cas a small distance away looking out over the horizon from his perch near a window. Most of it was boarded up, save for some small holes to peek and shoot out of. The rays of the sun were coming through those cracks and danced in streaks over Cas' face, making his eyes glow blue and the subtle highlights in his hair more apparent. He was smiling slightly, as he soaked up the rays. He was probably thinking how jealous his plants would be that he got some sun while they were stuck on the Impala. But that smile, it was a sight to see, truly.

He heard Pamela's approach behind him and he really wasn't sure he wanted to turn and face her, knowing that when he did he probably would be blushing, but she had already moved in front of him.

"Good morning!" she said, perhaps a bit too loudly, and somehow it only drew more attention to the knowing smirk on her face.

"'morning," Dean grumbled back, keeping his eyes focused on the rifle, "How are you doing?"

Pamela shrugged, "I'm a bit tense…not all of us got to _relax_ last night."

Dean's eyes flew open and he looked around to see if anyone else heard that, "Yeah, um. I'd like you best on the balcony with me and Cas. We can see everyone from up there, and you and I can keep an eye on our people."

Pamela didn't call him out on the evasion, but nodded sagely, "Sounds good to me, pookie-bear. I'll see you topside when things get real," and she sauntered off to check in with the rest of her people.

Waiting for her to be gone from sight, Dean made his way over to the window where Cas was still seated on the sill.

After a quick check proved that no one was watching, Dean placed his chin on Cas' shoulder, placing a quick kiss to it first and then looked out the peep-hole with him. They were silent for a moment, just enjoying the sun and each other, but Dean had too much on his mind and it was starting to make Cas' temples itch.

"You are worried," he stated simply.

"Of course I'm worried, aren't you?"

Cas shrugged slightly, not wanting to dislodge Dean from his shoulder, "I was, but then I realized that ten out of ten people die."

"Well, let's hope those statistics don't hold true for today."

Again, Cas shrugged and it made Dean frown, "Your gut telling you things, Cas?"

He gave him an un-amused look, "My intestines do not speak to me, Dean."

"Right."

He was going to delve in deeper, try and maybe get one of those telling prophecies, because really, if you had a boyfriend who could give you glimpses of the future, wouldn't you want to know, but the radio in their ears crackled and Meg's voice rang out.

"_Yo, Cap! Looks like we got some imminent violence!"_

She almost sounded excited about it.

* * *

Far off in the distance, the sound of horse hoof beats and a growing cloud of dust arose from the horizon. In the midst of the plume were 40 men, all on horseback save for Burgess who rode flanked by all of them on a hovercraft. He had a sick smile on his face as they surged forward. He was about to get back what was his, and he would get to play around for a bit too. It had been a while since he got to see a man bleed out in front of him. What a great way to celebrate his child's birth.

* * *

Through his binoculars, Sam saw the men approaching fast. He quickly identified Burgess from Anna's and Dean's descriptions of him and reported to the house that he was the one on the hovercraft. Maybe if he went down fast, this whole thing would end right then. He focused his binoculars further and almost choked at what he saw perched behind Burgess.

"Fuck," he tapped at his radio, "Dean, they have a machine gun."

* * *

Cas and Dean heard the report and both winced as more information was delivered through their headsets.

"_Gotta be at least forty men out there!"_

"_Did you see the size of that gun?!"_

"_Some of them have torches!"_

"_Is that Jake?"_

Dean swallowed hard, letting the words flow over him and slowly be absorbed in his mind as he calculated.

"_Um, Dean? What was that thing you said about running for it?" _

Meg's last call blazed a fire in Dean. He took a moment, visibly adjusting the new odds in his head as the others on his floor looked on, Pamela too as she arrived next to him. Suddenly he snapped up the rifle and cocked it. He turned to those looking at him and tapped the radio for all to hear his words.

"Okay, pussywillows! We have no shortage of ugly riding in on us. That doesn't change the plan! This is your home and you're making a stand. Don't let any monster take what you love away from you!"

Around him Dean heard the answering clicks and snaps of weapons being put on the ready.

"_Anybody here goes down, you drag them to the back and then get back to shooting. Only way to help them is to finish this," _Sam's voice called out from the floor above. There was a chorus of understanding grunts all around.

Dean grabbed a second rifle and moved back to the window with Cas, handing it to him wordlessly. They both moved their barrels out of one of the open cracks and waited.

* * *

Gabriel and Chuck had only just gotten through the small door into the hold of the Impala, Chuck slamming it shut behind them. He backed up a bit and bumped into Gabriel who was standing stock still in the middle of the room, scanning around with his eyes as if looking for something.

The radio on Gabe's hip crackled with their Captain's voice, _"Gabriel. Gonna be trading injuries and bullets in under two minutes. I'd like my sky a little less empty."_

Gabriel didn't move to answer the radio, still glancing around the room. Chuck was clueless as to what his problem was and reached to take the radio off of the pilot's belt, loosening it when from above two shadowed figures appeared on the catwalk above, raining gunfire down on them, spraking off the metal of the ship.

Gabriel slammed into the mechanic, pushing them behind some metal crates, but the motion sent the loosened radio skittering across the floor and out of reach.

Bullets continued to pellet around them, keeping them trapped behind the boxes.

In his head, Gabriel sent out a prayer for his brothers, for Sam, and for the rest of those who were now without the ship as back-up. Hell, they didn't even have him for healing. Useless.

Next to him he heard Chuck whimper as a shot came too close. He felt sick.

* * *

The hover craft hummed forward, somehow being heard over the loud stomps of the horses. Burgess could practically taste the blood that would spill this day and it only urged him on faster. He leaned into the controls and picked up the pace, the horses around him spurred on quicker as well by their masters.

One horse in particular was leading the way and as it neared the house, its' foreleg caught on a wire buried in the sand and it snapped up taut, catching three of the riders in the throats, crushing their windpipes and pitching them off of their animals. The others behind them took note and ducked out of the way of the booby trap, others slid sideways in their saddles, all clearing the line. Burgess didn't even flinch, letting the wire just slide over his windshield. Casually he turned in his seat to the man stationed at the rear where the machine gun was mounted.

"Open her up!" he yelled back and his man nodded, cranking back a lever and rapidly started to let out bullets all aimed at the windows of the house.

* * *

Dean had been watching from his window and saw the exact moment that the man on the back of the hovercraft had pulled the lever. He knew what was coming next and he grabbed Cas roughly, pulling them both away from the windows and behind the reinforced planking to the left.

"Cover!" he shouted to the rest on his floor and over the radio. He didn't have time to see if anyone listened as the next moment the windows started to splinter as bullets ripped through the wood, covering them all in sawdust and sharp fragments.

One glance at Cas showed a slightly startled but still aware expression and Dean concluded that he was okay for the moment and tapped at his radio, "Meg! I do believe that's out first hurdle. You might—"

* * *

The man at the machine gun continued firing away, his face quickly turning black as the gunpowder splattered all over his twisted features. He was just about to turn his aim to the first floor when he was suddenly plugged in the chest, making him flip backwards off the hovercraft. He was dead before he hit the sand.

Meg pulled her eye away from the gun's sight only long enough to tap her radio and accept the next gun from one of her boys.

"I think I might, Cap," she reported curtly. The man who handed her the gun was staring at her in awe. She just winked at him before getting back to her killing. She had plenty more to make him impressed by the time this was all said and done.

* * *

Sam heard Dean's voice continue to ring out orders through the radio, a comfort that even if Dean was on a different floor, at least he had the comfort of his brother's voice.

"_Fire!"_

All of the girls on his floor swung out their rifles and unleashed a barrage of fire from their position on the fourth floor. Sam let loose a few calculated shots himself, not wanting to waste any ammo or time. He saw two men fall, one of them only injured, but it was a shot to the arm and he would be all but useless to Burgess now. Around then the rest of the horses had come within shooting range of the house and all pulled out their own guns and started to return fire.

The walls on their floor had been fortified, but it wasn't perfect and one unlucky girl on the far end fell away from the window, bloodied by a gunshot. It looked like a nasty gash to her side and she dragged herself back against the far wall, handing her gun off to one of the others. If they finished this fast, she might just live.

With that in mind, Sam turned back to his window and fired back with renewed vigor.

* * *

Back on the third floor, Dean was keeping his people in calculated volleys of fire, only letting them near the windows when their attackers paused to reload. Cas had been kept busy by leading the wounded to safer areas and then handing newly loaded guns to the shooters, and Pamela was holding her own by the stairs when she caught sight of someone sneaking up.

It was Jake who had been missing since last night. She was going to call him out, but he was already headed up to the next floor. She made a note to tell Dean about it later as another one of her girls fell away from the window, a big splinter sticking out of her shoulder. Pamela bristled and aimed another shot. She was tired of seeing her girls hurt by this monster.

Her shot hit a man outside in the neck and he flopped off his horse. She took some satisfaction in that at least.

* * *

Gabriel and Chuck were still cornered by the bullets flying around them, making horrendous noises not only from the loud bangs echoing off the walls, but from the slam of each new bullet into the metal floor beneath them.

It was just like back on Dick's space station where Chuck would peek over the top of the crate every few seconds to send a few wild shots in the direction of the firing. He had Gabriel's gun at his side as the pilot had claimed it would only hinder his movements as he ducked from crate to crate, slowly moving closer to the door that would lead him to the common area. The men on the catwalk were luckily at such an angle that they couldn't see this.

At Gabriel's signal, Chuck let out a flurry of shots sporadically that sent both of their attackers ducking back behind the wall, a little startled by the sudden intensity of fire. It was the perfect cover for Gabriel to darted through the door at last and made it into the darkened hallways of the Impala.

* * *

Dean felt the sharp burn of a bullet tear through the skin on his forearm as one of the men below got in a lucky shot. It wouldn't affect his shooting, but it would sting like a bitch. He cursed loudly and sent out three more shots, each of them hitting the man who just messed up his arm.

He roughly pulled his rifle out from the window and started to reload, at the same time he tapped at his radio, "Gabe! Where the hell is my spaceship!"

* * *

Woot woot! ACTION! And if I remember correctly, the action lasts like...three chapters? Damn.


	15. Chapter 15

Notes: This is coming to you from my 15 minute study break! Woooo studying! *crying inside*

leahelisabeth: I know! That promo is killing me, but in the good way! XD

Disclaimer: Who owns nothing? *THIS GIRL!*

* * *

CHAPTER 15

The horses were darting back and forth in front of the house, startled by the loud noises, but their experienced riders were somehow able to stay in saddle and shoot. It would have been impressive if it wasn't so gosh darn annoying to the occupants of the house.

Still, they were happy to see that a few men continued to fall slowly, bring in their numbers down by at least 15. That wasn't to say that victory was on it's way because as far as numbers, with a few fallen of their people, the house was at about equal in man-power now.

Burgess didn't know this though, and he was starting to become a little impatient as he watched another of his men fall. He angled the hovercraft, flying parallel with the house front but keeping a good distance. He pulled his much loved laser gun from his side holster and fired a continuous beam, searing along the front of the house. The red streak grew as it wavered between the second and third story windows, the darkened lines left behind starting to smoke.

He smirked when he saw a few of the edges spark with the beginnings of flames.

* * *

The laser beam shot through the third floor, Dean only having just enough time to get everyone to duck out of its path. Behind him he saw the wallpaper scorched and a few of the less injured girls patting out the flames that grew there.

Again, his eyes searched for Cas, noting that he was also assisting in putting out the flames, but he had an impatient glint in his eye that bothered Dean. No time to deal with it now though. Fire probably was spreading on the outside of the house too.

"Ruttin' lasers…" He tapped his earpiece, "Sam, Balthazar! Second hurdle!"

* * *

One corner of the house had erupted in violent flames that was quickly spreading. At Dean's call, Sam and Balthazar had ditched their posts to run out the back door and to where Chuck's rigged up pump and hose were set up.

Covering Balthazar with his rifle, Sam let the middle Novak man the hose. Behind him he heard the hissing as the jet of water sprayed out of it and up towards the flaming wall.

One horseman turned towards them, noticing them putting out the fire and charged, only to be dropped a few seconds later as Sam leveled his gun and shot him straight in the chest.

"You ever think you would be a firefighter, Balthazar?" Sam tossed over his shoulder as he scanned for more threats. He heard the bark of laughter behind him.

"If I did it was more than likely as one of those manly magazine firemen!"

"Well, at least you can do these ladies proud."

Sam shot down another horseman.

"_You put out that fire and both of you get back in here on the double! Come to my floor for a report!"_

Sam was a little busy staring down a timid shooter, so Balthazar flicked his own radio, "We'll be there in just a moment, darling!"

* * *

Bobby felt the trickle of sweat make its way down his face, slowly edging for his eye, but his hands were more than a bit busy right now and wasn't about to move them away from the task. Lisa was bearing down hard, screaming between breaths as Anna continued to hold her hand in support.

"That's it, girl. One more push!" the preacher coached, his voice calm despite the sounds of bullets from outside, not to mention the flames that were visible outside the window a few minutes before.

Another scream.

"That's the shoulders...You're doing good."

* * *

The chaos that he could see below was a little amusing. There were riderless horses prancing about distracting the men's efforts to fire upon the house. They were kicking ass it seemed, but Dean wasn't about to break out the champagne until he knew it was over.

He heard the loud heavy footfalls of Sam and Balthazar as they ran up the stairs to his floor. He heard them panting hard, but they weren't bleeding anywhere that he could see and that was as much a comfort as he could take right now.

"How are things down there?"

"Maybe 25-30 men left. How about in here?" Sam asked as he was handed a loaded rifle by one of the girls.

"From what's been reported about 6 of Pamela's people are down. 3 of them are going to need help soon. Ammo is a little short on the fourth floor," Dean replied shortly as he swung the barrel of his rifle out the window searching for a new target.

"The crowsnest on the fourth?"

Dean shook his head, "Nobody went up there yet," he scanned around the area at the foot of the house and frowned.

"Hey, Meg? I lost visual on Burgess," he called over the radio.

A beat.

"_Same here."_

Dean swore, "Sam, I need you to head up to the nest and check—"

"Where's Cassy gone?" Balthazar asked suddenly.

His stomach dropped out and Dean frantically looked around the hallway, not spotting Cas anywhere. The filled rifles were all neatly lined up on the walls but…a quick count around the room…one gun was missing. He didn't even think, he just started forward ready to storm through the house until he located Cas, but he was held back by Sam.

"Dean. You have to stay here and keep an eye on things. I'll check the fourth floor and Balthazar will check the second and first. We'll find him," Sam promised and waited for Dean to nod hesitantly. He squeezed his brother's shoulder comfortingly before racing up the stairs. If he was lucky he would find Cas right away and he could send him right back to Dean's side.

* * *

The crow's nest was set up to be a sniper point. It wasn't more than the uppermost window of the house fitted with a flat plank laid across the sill, making a surface for someone to lay belly down on for shooting. It was at the far end of the hallway in a different room than the rest of the fourth floor stations and Cas was for once glad for his natural ability to move unnoticed in large groups of people. He was easily able to slip by the distracted shooters and into the unoccupied room.

He felt the weight of the gun he held in his hand as he slowly spread his lean frame over the plank. The glass to the window had been removed and he was able to get a very nice view of the scurrying rats below.

He took note of the locations of the innocent horses and slowly pulled the rifle up and eased himself into position. He didn't lower his eye to the sight though. He wouldn't need it.

"Ten little soldiers all in a line," he spotted one lone figure trying to make his way into the house, "…a shot rings out…" Cas pulled the trigger, "down to nine."

"Nine little soldiers, all scared of their fate…A blast goes off, down to eight."

Somewhere in the distance, another fell.

"Eight little soldiers, all hoping for heaven…a slash of a knife, down to seven."

He flinched as he saw in technicolor the blood splatter over the sand. Tears started to leak down his face as he leveled the gun again at a man using a fallen horse as cover as he was shooting at the house. His voice started to hitch, "Se-seven little soldiers, all hidden behind br-bricks…the charge blasts through…down to six."

He stopped for a moment, somehow having lost his breath with the last one and was gasping through broken sobs, "S-six little s-soldiers, praying to stay alive…someone sneaks up…down to five."

Another shot and he reloaded the rifle mechanically as he tried to picture himself somewhere else, like back in those silken sheets with Dean, bathing in his glow and not in all this blood.

"Five little soldiers, sick of the gore…one c- couldn't take it…down to four."

His hands were shaking so badly that they made the rifle clatter in his hands, "F-four l-little soldiers," a broken sob tore through his throat, "all c-coming after m-me…I'm sorry, I had to…down to three."

The last one twitched for a moment before the bullet lodged in his cranium finally killed him.

"Thr-three little soldiers, who knew they were through…they stopped trying…down to two."

One more man's head rose from where he was ducked behind the corpse of one of the fallen men.

"One last little soldier, clinging to his gun…a shot rang out…then there were none."

* * *

Sam almost fell down as he stormed up the stairs. He first checked the hallway where seven of the girls were stationed, but he didn't see Cas.

"Dean? Cas isn't in the hallway. Any luck elsewhere?" Sam called.

"_Nothing. Balthazar said he wasn't on the second floor or in with Bobby. He's checking the first floor. Just…just get to the crow's nest. I need you up there."_

"Okay."

He could feel the regret in Dean's voice as he gave the order, but they both knew that this was the right decision. He turned to walk the rest of the way down the hall, brushing by Jake who was standing awkwardly by the rifles, digging through a pile of tools. Sam paid him little mind and moved into the dark room where the nest was set up.

That was when he spotted Cas send off one shot from the rifle in his hands and turn to the younger Winchester with wide and terrified eyes.

"Sam!? You can't be here!"

Sam ignored him, "Cas, what the hell? Dean is freaking out. What are you doing here?"

But Cas was scrambling off of the plank and running up to Sam and trying to move his very much larger frame out of the room. Sam remained unmovable and grabbed Cas' arms roughly to shake him, "Stop it! Dean needs me here, and needs you down there!"

"No, no, no!" Cas sobbed and tried vainly to move Sam again. The floorboards creaked loudly under their feet.

Then the door to the room opened up again and Jake stood there with something held in his hand. He took in the forms of Sam and Cas and regarded them somewhat sadly before pressing down on the device he held. Only too late did Sam realize that it was a detonator.

Then the floor beneath them disappeared and together Cas and Sam plummeted down into open air.

* * *

Burgess watched in mild concern as ten of his men all fell all within a few seconds of each other. This would put his numbers below that of the whores and that just wouldn't do. He pulled his hovercraft up close to the house again, leaping off of it and rolling onto the ground only a few feet from the back door. Just like Jake had promised, it was unlocked and he slipped inside the empty kitchen.

* * *

They just didn't understand it. They could have sworn there were two guys that they were shooting at, but all they had spotted was one behind the crates. There hadn't been any shooting for a while now and they just assumed that they had finally killed the annoying guy. They decided to check out the rest of the ship. There had to have been a second guy. They saw him!

Together, the two men moved through the dining area, grimfaced as they swiveled their guns around the corners of the room. Slowly they moved into the center of the room, only to have the door behind them slam shut. They ran up to the only other dor, spotting the other man at the end of the hall.

The small man smiled brightly and gave a loud hoot that sounded like some freak bird call. He didn't appear to be armed, so they started to fire off a few bullets that just narrowly missed their target as he dove down a turn in the corridor.

"Get him!"

As they were about to pass through the door, it also slammed shut on them, effectively locking them in the dining area. The first tried slamming the butts of their guns into the small glass window, but it didn't even dent. Around then, the smug face of the small man appeared on the other side of the glass, his laughter so loud and adrenaline charged that it came out a cackle through the door.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha! Got you, you niao se duh doo-gway!" (piss-soaked pikers) he laughed again and looked around him…and then Gabriel realized that the only hallway that led to the control room was on the other side of the dining room.

"Well, fuck me sideways."

* * *

Bobby lifted up the swaddled baby, still purple in all it's newborn squealing, sticky goodness, but somehow it still brought a swell of emotion up in him at the beautiful sight.

"It's a boy. Healthy one to if his lungs are anything to go by," he informed the still slightly delirious Lisa who smiled dreamily as she gazed upon her baby for the first time.

Behind Bobby the door slammed open and a horror descended on them as Burgess stepped in, his laser gun held high.

"Good morning, Lisa. I see my baby has arrived."

* * *

Dun dun dun! And also, I am a disturbed individual who wrote a very messed up poem and I made Cas all sad. I'm going to go sit in a corner now.


	16. Chapter 16

Notes: And so the action continues...and btw, we have passed 400,000 words! It is truly a miracle that I have not lost steam yet.

leahelisabeth: Apologies! Here is some more for you XD Enjoy luvy!

Ship. me: Yay! I have been released and now I can post the next chapter! :D And BAMF!Cas is always the shiz! Gonna be plenty of that in future stories! ;)

Disclaimer: Day 180: I still own nothing. ( holy crap has it really been that long?!)

* * *

CHAPTER 16

Pamela was the first to hear Lisa scream and right away she dropped from her perch on the window and raced down the hall, panic and anger plain on her face. Dean noticed the hurried movement out of the corner of his eye as was about to chase after her when he felt more than heard a great blast rock through the house.

Suddenly a huge chuck of the ceiling and a portion of the floor suddenly disappeared in a great plume of dust and debris. In the midst of the cracking of wood and horrified screams, Dean heard the familiar sound of charges going off and knew that these explosions were caused by someone placing the small firecrackers into the floorboards. Then he saw the two familiar forms fall from above and fall straight through the floor below.

"No!"

Ignoring the sharp splinters and weakened wood, Dean dove to the part of the floor where the boards were cut off from the blast, leaving a huge gaping mouth complete with jagged edges. At first he couldn't see anything with the dust cloud still hanging in the air around the blast zone, and his heart started to beat faster as the fear crept up his throat, choking him more than the dust floating in the air.

"Sammy?! Cas!?"

After a few agonizing moments of silence, some more of the dust dissipated, and Dean could see that there was yet another hole in the second floor. He didn't see his brother or Cas there, and with that painful knowledge, he knew that they had fallen even further down to the first floor.

"Cas! Sam! Answer me, damnit!"

Then he could see down to the lobby and he saw the two still forms of Sam and Cas sprawled on the floor, limbs all at awkward angles and a few cuts already making themselves known by red trickles from various places. It didn't look like they were moving at all. He couldn't even see them breathing.

He stopped breathing too.

Then Balthazar's frame moved into sight, hesitantly moving up to his fallen brother with shaking hands. Obviously the middle Novak had reached the first floor to look for Cas…and now he had found him.

Dean watched as Balthazar ran his trembling fingers up Cas' neck. With his fingers bouncing around so much, Dean wasn't sure if he would be able to detect a pulse…if there was a pulse. Whatever Balthazar felt, he pulled his hand back abruptly and brought his hands to him mouth, covering his eyes for a short moment before he moved over to Sam.

Dean was still not breathing and he watched as Balthazar did the same thing to Sam.

"Balthazar?"

Dean called down, his voice cracking and desperate.

The man below looked up at him and gave a short nod, not trusting himself to speak at first. He coughed violently, "They're alive. Softened the fall," he turned his eyes down to the floor around him and kicked at something soft that bounced right off his foot. That's when Dean saw the scattered and now very dirty pillows under the still bodies. Balthazar let out an almost hysterical laugh, but Dean didn't feel like laughing at all, not with all the blood he saw dripping down Sam's face and from the many cuts on Cas' arms. Those pillows may have softened the fall, but there was no way that they were walking away from that without some serious damage. He could only pray that Gabriel was on his way and could help soon.

He glanced up at the hole in the ceiling, looking at the damage done. These charges had been set up by someone on the inside. They had been betrayed and Sam and Cas were hurt because of it, they were bleeding and broken and that not only hurt Dean too, but it made him angry. So angry that could have sworn he felt his blood boiling. No one hurt his brother or Cas and got away with it. This job just got personal and someone was going to pay dearly.

He heard Lisa scream somewhere in the house and tore his eyes away from the horrific scene below and he started down the hall, an inferno growing in his eyes. He would find Burgess and whoever had hurt his family, and he would kill them.

* * *

"Rance! No!" Lisa screamed as Burgess moved into the room, heading straight for the bundle in her arms.

Bobby was the first to react and dove for his med bag, seeking out the scalpel and charging at the intruder, but Burgess was in a bloodbath mood and swatted Bobby off easily with a harsh crack of his gun against Bobby's chin, knocking him to the ground and bouncing the scalpel out of his hand. His head was reeling, but the preacher tried to get to his feet again, only to have Burgess violently kick him in the gut, making Bobby kiss the floor again. He didn't even get a chance to try and get up again before Burgess brought the butt of his gun against the preacher's temple, and he was out cold. Anna cried out in distress as her friend fell down and she dove to his side to see how bad the damage was.

"You're lucky I didn't kill you. Just don't sit right killing a Sheppard," he commented darkly.

"You won't kill him, but you'll steal a baby from its mother?" Ava snapped back.

Burgess didn't even pause before he leveled his laser gun at her and shot her straight in the chest. She was dead before she hit the ground. Both Lisa and the baby screamed, but even that didn't seem to shake the unfeeling man as he moved right up to the bed and ripped the baby right out of Lisa's arms. She was far too weak from labor to put up much of a fight, but she held on as strongly as she could, eventually being pulled from her bed to fall in a tragic heap at the foot of the bed. Burgess shook her off easy after that and left the room and the crying mother behind.

Roughly he hefted the baby into a somewhat comfortable position in his arms, making sure that he had at least one arm free to wield his prized gun. The thing in his arms was wailing and wouldn't shut up. It was like a beacon in this house and was sure to bring attention, so he pulled part of the blanket covering the child over its face, hoping to muffle some of the noise.

His distraction with the baby delayed him just enough that Pamela was able to meet him in the hallway before he could make it down to the first floor. Her face was twisted in rage from her normal playful and sly expression and for a moment, Burgess almost felt intimidated before he remembered that she was just a woman, a whore at that.

"Rance, most of your men are either dead, dying or running away. You lost this battle, so give us back the baby," she hissed, pulling up her pistol and leveling it at him.

"Oh, I'm not giving up my baby. And I know you ain't going to shoot me seeing as you're so damned concerned for this little bundle of joy. Can't risk hitting it," he sneered back, his arrogance leaving a foul taste in Pamela's mouth.

She didn't lower her gun, "You aren't taking the baby."

"This is my blood, woman!" he gestured towards the baby with his gun, making her flinch at his blatant disregard for the little life, or anyone's life but his. Then she noticed a shock of red appear behind Burgess and smirked as Anna's slim arm snaked a scalpel under Burgess' chin from behind, digging its tip into the side of his throat, drawing a thin line of blood that trickled down and stained his crisp white collar.

Anna placed her lovely painted red lips up to his ear and whispered darkly, "No. This is your blood, and you'll lose more of it if you do not hand over that child nice and slow."

He froze in her grip, feeling the hot trickle of his own blood coursing down his neck. He had yet to bleed this day and loathed the feel of it. He winced as his pause made Anna dig the knife in deeper and finally slowly handed it over to one of the nearby whores who had poured into the hallway following the cries of the baby. She took the infant right back upstairs where Lisa was being comforted by a few others.

Burgess watched her go, sensing that the others in the room were doing the same thing and took the advantage to elbow Anna hard in the stomach, making the Comapanion stagger back and collapse on the floor, her weapon dropped. Not waiting a moment more, he whipped up his gun and fired it straight ahead where Pamela was charging at him. Startled by her fast movements, he shot wildly, a high and wide arc in front of him that seared over Pamela's face, burning a trail right through her eyes. She screamed horrifically and fell to the ground as the smell and sound of sizzling flesh filled the room.

He was sickened by the sight, bile creeping up his throat as he looked at the once beautiful woman now marred so by his hand. He didn't stay to try for his baby again, he didn't stay to see that the job was done. He fled, for once horrified by what he had done.

That was when Dean came in and saw Anna crawling over to Pamela, tears streaming down her face as she cradled her sisters dark head in her hands. She had stopped screaming a moment ago, and a quick check told Anna that she wouldn't ever be making a noise, a joke, a flirtatious remark ever again. Burgess had killed her.

Dean stood there, staring down at Anna as she sobbed over her fallen sibling. He couldn't help but picture himself in her place, cradling Sam or Cas as they lay dead in his arms. It was sick for him to think of such things, but for all he knew, when he finally was able to go see what had happened to them after that fall…he may be doing the same exact thing…

He heard footsteps clattering down the stairs behind him and he turned to see Jake, the one with the impressive aim, coming into the room. Then it clicked. Jake leaving the house so late the night before, his insistence to work alone while he used a crowbar and hammer in certain places of the house for "fortification"…and his skill with a gun. This guy was once a soldier and probably had a whole host of knowledge pertaining to charges.

Without a doubt, Dean knew that this was the one responsible for Cas and Sam crumpled forms, and he raised his gun and shot Jake in the chest, ripping his heart to shreds like Jake had done to Dean. He didn't watch the corpse fall to the floor as he was already headed down the stairs and heading outside where he heard the sounds of the hovercraft being powered up.

* * *

He made it to the lobby, but couldn't look over to his left where he would see those he loved more than anything still motionless of the floor, Balthazar working to staunch the bleeding wounds without moving them too much. He knew that if he stopped to look then he would miss this opportunity. Sam and Cas would understand. They would want to see justice served.

The front door slammed open as Dean kicked it hard, sending the screen swinging violently on its hinges as he stalked out, eyes forward at his target. Without dropping a beat, Dean swung up his pistol and plugged an approaching horseman right in the chest, not even bothering to check to see it the bullet hit him. The sound of a body falling to the ground was enough evidence for him. Plus, he was pretty sure his aim got better the more pissed off he was. And right now he was pretty damn pissed.

A horse started to trot by him and Dean reached out to snag the reins in his hands, and swung up onto the animal and gaining control of it fast enough to make any equine rider impressed. From his position high on the animal, Dean zoned in on his target like a tracking beam and spurred his acquired horse forward, heading straight for the plains where the clouds of dust were billowing behind the hovercraft as it flew off.

The land seemed to blur past him as Dean spurred on. His horse was moving so fast he was doubtful that anyone watching would even be able to make out the individual legs of the animal as they rode across the flat ground. Normally this breakneck gallop would have Dean a little nervous, but there was no spare emotions for that. His rage was all consuming at this point. The destroyed face of Pamela, Anna's tears, Lisa's screams, Balthazar's shaking hands, the motionless Sam and Cas…they just added fuel to the flame.

Up ahead, Burgess saw in his rearview mirror the approaching form of Winchester, his horses' strides quickly bringing him up closer. Fumbling for his gun, he half turned in his seat keeping one hand on the controls and the other aiming his weapon at the Captain.

He fired, but Dean had seen him aim and simply leaned to the left, the beam of the laser cutting the air by his head. Dean didn't even blink and whipped yet another burst of speed out of his horse as another beam seared by the two of them. He was closing in on the hovercraft, an easy shot for Burgess, and he lined up for the next shot, carefully taking aim and pulling the trigger.

Dean saw this and tensed, knowing that he was probably going to at least be winged this time, but then over the wind he heard a rapid beeping noise coming from Burgess where the man was checking the display on his gun. Dean couldn't see it, but Burgess read the big red letters "Check Battery" as they flashed over the screen. He cursed and tossed the gun to the seat next to him. In his frustration he didn't even see when Dean had pulled his horse up along side his speeding craft and flew off his horse, tackling them both off of the hovercraft and slamming them into a hard roll on the plain.

Dean had braced himself, tucking into the roll to save off damage, but Burgess went down hard and had the wind smashed out of him and was left writhing on the ground. Dean got up slowly, his face set in a deadly calm and he stalked over to the fallen man. Upon reaching him, Burgess saw the deadly intent and whimpered as he waited.

Dean didn't disappoint and roughly grabbed his shirtfronts and hauled Burgess up, pulling his pistol from his holster and leveling it at Burgess' head. The murderer felt the barrel shake against his temple as Dean shook with rage.

"You're gonna pay for what you've done," Dean growled, his voice so low and rough it almost hurt Burgess' ears.

"She…she was just a whore!"

Dean was seething with vengeful fury. This man didn't even care about the blood he spilled, _who's_ blood he had spilled and all the damage he had cause to each any every soul in that house. He wanted to pull that trigger, to get the satisfaction of seeing this man's brain splatter against the sand, to see the life leave this monster's eyes…but this justice didn't belong to Dean. Someone else, a lot of someone else's would want the same satisfaction.

He ripped the barrel away from Burgess' head, but before the man could sag in relief, Dean flipped the gun in his hand and smashed the butt across his face, knocking him to the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Yippie Kay 'ay, Motherfucker," Dean hissed as he dumped the man in the craft. At least he took some personal satisfaction by smashing the laser gun with a rock before heading back to the house. As he got closer and closer, he felt his anxiety double, then triple until he felt lightheaded. He so wanted to just fall in the sand on his knees and pray that Cas and Sam, and the rest of his crew were okay, but he continued on.

* * *

He didn't speak as he arrived back at the house. He took note of the Impala having apparently finally flown in and parked in the back. Out front there was a gathering of some of the people, Bobby holding a bloody rag to his head, Anna helping a limping girl along, Meg herding along a few of the survivors from Burgess' crew, and Chuck doing his best to tie them up in a line in the dirt. There were a few of the men from the house carrying outside the bodies of the few who had fallen. Among them Dean made out Jake, Ava and Pamela. He didn't look too closely at the others.

Instead he made himself busy by dragging the now somewhat awake and groggy Burgess along the dirt, not caring in the least that the man was getting his knees all scuffed up by the sharp rocks.

He deposited the revolting heap of a monster and tied his hands and then stepping back. This man belonged to the people of this house. He would let them handle it.

Burgess was slowly becoming more and more aware of his surroundings and his anger exploded as he saw his men either dead or trussed up and the whores more than not alive and victorious. He snarled loudly and screamed, "Lisa! You bring my baby out! Right now, you hear me?! I want to see me son!"

Dean looked up from the pitiful sight to see Lisa appear from the front door, the baby held at her shoulder. All around the area, everyone stopped and they watched as she approached Burgess, her face eerily calm. She stopped about ten feet in front of him and cooed at her son, "Rance, this is Ben," she rubbed noses with her infant and smiled, "Say hi to your daddy, ben."

She glanced back at Burgess and the smile fell from her face and in her free hand she brought up a pistol. Pamela's favorite pistol as Dean recognized absently. Lisa had some style it seemed. He looked on as Lisa aimed it at Burgess' head and fired. Everyone got to see him die, and a all around shoulders slumped in relief.

"Say goodbye to your daddy, Ben," Lisa then looked up around at the other men who attacked their home. Again, she was a gentle soul and she knew in the back of her mind that these men had been just as trapped as her in pleasing the now dead man. They weren't monsters and neither was she or the others in the house.

"All of you, get going. I know I won't ever see any of your faces here again," she said coldly and the men all nodded before scampering off, not even waiting for their hands to be untied.

Dean watched them go for a moment before looking down at his feet. He couldn't put it off any longer and he turned to walk back into the house and whatever awaited him.

* * *

One more chapter to go after this! But argh! I am so behind in chapters it's not even funny anymore D"X


	17. Chapter 17

Notes: So. Much. Studying. I. Am. So. Dead.

Leahelisabeth: Lol, so very sorry I'm so terrible to you XD but cliffy's are so much fun!

ship. me: Hells to the yeah Dean is awesome! XD

merlincrazy: You can't be as bad as me cause I'm the one who wrote it XP And thank you so much! Hopefully the next story serves justice to the last episode of Firefly! :D

Disclaimer: Dead people don't own things.

* * *

CHAPTER 16

Once again Dean had to squint when he walked into the room as the sunlight was suddenly cut off. Blinking away the burn, he slowly made out a few figures on the floor, two laid down and two kneeling at their sides. His heart gave another lurch in his chest like it wanted to be spit out and splattered on the floor.

Cautiously he approached, trying to keep his footsteps quiet, like his whole world would shatter if he made too much noise. He couldn't see their faces because Gabriel and Balthazar were mostly in the way, but Dean knew it was Sam and Cas on the ground. He tiptoed up behind them and peaked over their hunched shoulders…

Sam's left leg was at an awkward angle, obviously broken, but there was no blood on the pants to signify a compound fracture. Small mercy there. His chest and arms seemed to be fine, but he yet again had a nasty gash on his temple that Gabriel was holding a rag to. But…Sam's eyes were open and he was looking up at Dean. They met each other's eyes and Sam offered a small reassuring grin, telling Dean that he was okay, then he jerked his chin to his right, to where Cas lay and Dean finally moved his gaze over.

Right away Dean knew that he was alive, but that was mostly because his chest was heaving violently as he panted through what was probably agonizing pain. Balthazar was holding his hand tightly, trying to sooth him as best he could, but it didn't seem to be enough. Dean didn't remember moving, but he found himself on the other side of his supine form, brushing the hair away from Cas' eyes and muttering soft words of comfort.

"He landed pretty hard on his back. Had the wind knocked out of him and had a few ribs cracked. He won't let me heal them," Gabriel informed the Captain quietly. Dean turned to see Gabriel frown down at Sam, "This idiot here won't let me heal him either. Not until the kids upstairs are taken care of first," he muttered darkly, but there was pride and affection hidden in the depths of his eyes.

"Sorry, man, but I can wait. I've dealt with worse, you know that Dean. Take care of the others first," Sam urged as he saw the pained look in both Gabriel's and Dean's faces. Of course, Dean would be saying the exact same damn thing even if he was sitting on the floor with a gorramn lead pipe through his chest. It was just...it was Sam. He knew in his mind that Sam had worse, but that wasn't a comfort. Sam should never be hurt...

Dean turned his attention back to Cas after a quick nod of understanding to the pilot, "Cas? Cas, can you hear me? It's okay, I've got you. And we'll take care of the girls, but you gotta help yourself a bit first. Just enough to get you on your feet, okay?"

He hear Cas whine in protest, but then the panting slowly started to subside and some color returned to his features as he mended the bones in his chest. Soon enough he was making himself sit up, despite his brother's and Dean's protests. He hadn't healed the bones all the way, and his back felt worse than it ever had before, but that could wait. He had to help the others. He had killed so many today, he needed to save some too.

"Woah, Cas! Slow down, man," Dean scolded, but he was brushed off.

"I am well enough, Dean. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I'm ready to work on the others."

"Cas, we just fell down three floors. Take it easy!"

Cas sent Sam a slightly exasperated look, "I know we fell down three floors. I had calculated the impact and had set up proper cushioning, but my design wasn't meant for two people. You weren't supposed to be there," Cas scolded. After all that work fluffing the pillows into perfect formation, things had still not gone to plan. He had failed and Sam got hurt. Now Dean was in even worse pain. And…

"Pamela is dead, isn't she?" Cas asked Dean suddenly. He got a jerky nod in response that had Cas groaning and burying his head in his hands. He had failed to protect her too.

"The others?"

Dean looked to Gabriel and Balthazar for that.

"Eight dead on our side. Crew, besides you two are just bruised, but not broken. Bobby was even able to patch up the worst injuries already. Two could use a little help from me and baby bro before we take off though," Gabriel reported. When he had finally been able to fly the ship over, thanks to Chuck's idea of cutting off the oxygen supply in the dining area, he had run right up to the house, not even sparing a thought to if the firefight was still going on. All he could see were a few people milling around outside carrying bodies. Then he had dashed into the lobby to see Bobby and Balthazar frantically checking over a bloodied Sam and Cas, moving wooden planks off of them, and brushing away a large amount of feathers that had burst from the pillows. They weren't awake at that point and for a moment Gabriel was positive that they were both dead. Thankfully, only a few minutes later, after Gabriel had given them the glowy x-ray, he knew that they were for the most part going to be okay. He nearly tossed his cookies in relief.

"Fine. Just…do what you have to, Cas, but please don't hurt yourself more. I need you," Dean told him, not even caring that the others in the room heard him say anything remotely sentimental.

Cas felt more burdened then he ever had before, but he would do his best not to let down Dean anymore. So many dead today. So much tragic emotion and pain sifting through the house and being absorbed deep inside of him. The sheer weight of it alone, without his own injuries, would have made him crash through the floor without the help of the charges.

Dean saw the despair swimming closer to the surface in Cas' blue eyes and gave his shoulder a quick, but firm squeeze, "Hey. Don't focus on it, Cas. Focus on me."

Cas shook his head, "But you hurt too."

"No. Check again."

And he did, and instead of feeling the crushing guilt, the boiling anger, the cold fear, and the sharp sorrow, Cas felt the warm embrace of relief and love in Dean. He latched on to it so firmly that he knew that Dean felt it. He wouldn't be letting go of that feeling for a while. Not until he had time to release everything else.

"Take me to those who need help."

* * *

Dean held both Anna and Cas under his arms firmly as they all stood over the eight new graves. The smell of freshly turned over soil filling their noses as their eyes all set upon the small crosses with the names of the fallen carved into them. Everyone had come out for this funeral, even the wounded ones, even the new baby had been brought. Almost no one stood by themselves as most were huddled together with a close friend, or holding hands in comfort. Cas felt Dean pull him tighter against his side and knew he was doing the same with Anna as her quiet sobbing continued.

Everyone was dressed in white, the traditional clothes for these types of things. Cas remembered reading somewhere in a book that once it was proper to wear black, long before the fusion of the buddist and Christian religions two thousand years ago. He couldn't imagine how dreary and painful those times must have been. Life was never something you mourned. Loss, yes. You could mourn that. But this, this was them putting a life to rest. She was at peace and that was never something to mourn.

One of the girls from the house had stepped forward and started to sing an ancient song that Cas had heard many times when he and his brothers used to attend church together. It was a hopeful and beautiful tune that was always one of his favorites. He hummed along with her, just soft enough that only Dean could really hear.

"_Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound...that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see…"_

He felt Dean shift again beside him as the Captain listened to the lyrics. Chances were, Dean had not heard this song before and the words were perhaps a bit startling in comparison to both of them. Shyly he ducked his head under Dean's chin and closed his eyes as he let the sorrow from all of those around him slowly filter in…only this time instead of fighting it off, or pushing it aside, he embraced it. This time, instead of floating around his being like a sticky smog, it flowed right back out, like a passing stranger on a sidewalk. He sighed in relief.

The singing continued and one by one, Pamela's friends all stepped up to the wooden crosses where a small stool stood with a bowl of incense on top to purify the grave. They would bow and drop pinches of incense into the bowl and then step back. Each new pinch added by a new person was meant to enhance the sanctity of the gravesite. The more people who loved and cared about you, the more incense, the more peaceful your final resting place. Cas didn't take too much stock in that theory though. He didn't have that many friends or people who loved him. Neither did Dean or his brothers, or even the rest of the crew, but he knew that there was enough love shared between their little family to exceed those who had a hundred friends. Still, he added a hefty pinch of incense when it was his turn.

He glanced around, noting Sam and Gabriel off to the side holding each other much in the same way Dean was holding him close right now. Sam was leaning heavily one crutches that had been covered in stickers courtesy of Gabriel. They seemed to be lost in their own thoughts, like everyone else standing around the graves, but at least the two of them were together. Fear seemed to be a fickle thing in how it could tear people apart and bring them together a moment later. So scared to lose someone you love, but then too scared to lose it. How strange.

"_Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace apprear, the hour I first believed._

_Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. 'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home."_

* * *

Two nights later the crew was almost back to normal. With both Gabriel and Cas somewhat kind not really re-charged after healing up those at the house, they had been able to fix Sam's leg to the point where he only had a bad limp and was forced to use a cane to get around. Sam was still incredibly uncomfortable, but it was all they could manage. In the next two days they hoped that they could finish up. Dean allowed himself just a little bit of pouting at that, mostly because that meant that Cas wouldn't be sleeping through the nights anymore to recharge. He would never admit it out loud, but he really enjoyed seeing Cas completely relaxed and asleep next to him.

Cas had been able to mostly heal up his ribs and the jagged cuts to his arms and legs the day before, no longer gasping in pain when he bent over, but his back was another story. He just couldn't heal whatever was going on under his skin there and the fall had done some damage to…whatever it was. More than ever before he was left aching most of the day, even with the special pain killers. They could only hope that if left alone, that too would heal on it's own.

* * *

His thoughts were mostly busy with inventory as they had lost a lot of ammunition and a few weapons in the battle, and Dean was taking note of what they would need when he found a suitable port to land in. True to Pamela's word, only a few hours after they had left the planet, a very generous amount of money had been deposited in their accounts for their service. As much as Dean was loathe to accept it having lost so many lives that day, but Anna had practically thrown a hissy fit when Dean asked how he could send it back. At least he had enough to buy back ammo, get some new parts for Chuck, get them enough rations for another month, and even with buying more of Cas' medicine he might just have a few cents left to buy him a few more books to read too.

He had just finished up checking over the rifles for any dents in the barrels when he heard the skipping footsteps of Gabriel walking by.

"Hiya Dean-o the dinosaur!" he greeted cheerfully.

Dean chuckled, "Hey. What are you so happy about?"

"Dinner's almost ready and Bobby's cooking!"

Dean grinned, "Excellent, put him on low heat and simmer so I have time to wash up."

That got a hearty laugh out of Gabriel, "Yeah, it was a close call though. Cassy-doodle was making a fuss about never getting to cook for anyone anymore. Still don't know how Sam talked him out of that one, but I'll be forever grateful. I swear, when Castiel cooks the chicken is still raw enough to cross the road, and you know how much I hate those kinds of jokes."

"Yeah, I hear ya, but give me one second and I'll walk up there with you."

* * *

There was a happy bustle of activity in the dining area. Bobby was busy stirring away at something that smelled amazing in a pot while Cas hovered over his shoulder. Balthazar, Chuck and Meg were trying to finish up a poker game while Sam did his best to set the table around their game, somehow balancing on his cane and holding the dishes.

Dean chose to head over to Cas to greet him properly, a kiss to the cheek, and also to steal a peak at whatever Bobby was cooking. The preacher must have been in a good mood since he didn't smack him with the spoon, but he did give Dean a royal stink eye. Still, the preacher just turned his attention back to Cas, picking back up their conversation.

"I don't know much about how it's done, but there is a lot of information on the cortex that I could pull up for you. If you want a real explanation or maybe even a demonstration, you should ask Anna. I think she does it on a regular basis."

Dean's eyes bugged out, "Wait, what? What is he looking up? Bobby, you know how sketchy the cortex can be!"

"Unclench your ass, Dean. I'm talking to Cas about learning meditation as a way to help him with the emotional baggage that we seem to keep piling on him like an underpaid doorman," Bobby huffed and then he smacked Dean with the spoon.

"Ooh! Yeah! All the psychics in the sci-fi books meditated! They all could fold their legs in that funny way…wait, Cassy, how flexible are you? Or should I be asking Dean?" Balthazar joked from the table, eyebrows raised suggestively.

Dean chuckled good naturedly, but didn't reveal just how flexible Cas could be. Just wouldn't be proper, especially since his talents weren't necessarily anywhere near proper in use, "Well, from what I've seen of Anna's meditation it looks kinda boring. Just sitting still with your eyes closed."

"I'm sure there's more to it then that, Dean…um…where is Anna anyway?" Sam asked, glancing around the room and seeing that the Companion wasn't present. Usually she was there before the rest of them, helping cook or setting the table.

"She might just need some time alone. I'll bring her some dinner later if she doesn't show," Dean said shortly. He could understand if she wanted to be alone for a bit. She had just lost someone very important to her and it might be a while before she felt like being around all of these smiling faces.

Dinner was pleasant and the conversations civil, even if Gabriel and Balthazar tried to have a raunch-off in seeing who could say the dirtiest thing at the table before Bobby threw something at them. Unsurprisingly, Meg was the one who won that. It was just about time for desert and Anna had still not shown up.

"So then she brings out that _huge_ box of sex toys, and I'm thinking to myself "this girl is freaky!", but who was I to stop that kinky little darling from wanting a little something something," Balthazar joked over the table, winking at the others and earning himself several eye rolls.

Of course Castiel looked incredibly confused, "But Balthazar, what would she want with you when she has a box full of sex toys?"

Several people choked on their drinks.

Dean was a little distracted and was seriously considering skipping whatever sweet was planned that night to go check on her, but then Bobby had produced a pie out of nowhere, saying that he had baked it back on the moon before they had left and thought that everyone could use something to fatten them up.

Dean watched as the magnificent and perfectly flaky pie was set on the table in front of Cas and Gabriel. Everyone at the table felt their mouths water. Gabriel bent his face closer to take in a deep breath of the wonderful smell…only to have Cas push it down into the fruity confection with a loud splat.

Everyone burst out laughing as the pilot's face came up completely covered in red goo from the cherries, Sam's laugh the loudest of all and gave Cas a high-five. Well, almost everyone was laughing. Dean was too busy staring down at the massacred pie, his face one of horror.

Bobby noticed this and chuckled, "Don't look like Cas just ran over your favorite puppy, Dean. Sam, Cas and I had this planned for days. I made another pie." And then Bobby produced the spare right in front of Dean and cut the Captain the biggest slice he could manage to fit on the spatula.

It was hard to tell under the mess covering his face, but they all saw the stunned look on the prankster, but then he broke out into a huge grin, big globs of cherry matter sliding off his features and spattering on the table. He cupped the back of Cas' head and pulled him in for a very wet and perhaps a little too thorough kiss for brothers, getting more of the red sticky stuff all over the stunned Cas, much to his displeasure.

"Cassy!? You were in on a prank?! I am so proud of you, you little cutie!" he cooed and continued to rub his face over Cas', smearing gunk all over.

"You never told me that I would be victim in this as well," Cas whined to Sam and Bobby.

"You're the psychic one!" Sam chuckled and Cas just rolled his eyes, but didn't try to wipe off the goo. They all dug in happily, smirking every time they looked at Cas or Gabe who were now wearing their sticky masks like badges of honor.

It would take a while to wash all of that out of Cas' hair, but Dean would help out. He didn't mind the idea of a long shower…

* * *

Normally Dean didn't knock before strolling into Anna's shuttle, but given the circumstances, he did this time. He juggled the plate of food in his hand and tapped lightly on the hatch. It opened abruptly and Anna was there, pale and eyes red.

"Um, hey. You weren't at dinner, so…" he lifted the food in offering.

"Oh, yes. Of course, come in."

Dean did so and deposited the plate on the small table, noting that Anna didn't make a move towards it. He didn't want to just dump and leave, especially since he owed Anna so much in the way of comforting conversations, so he stayed and tried to start some sort of talk.

"I think…I know those people will do all right back at the house. They've all got more fight in them then most give them credit for."

Anna nodded absently, "Yes, Pamela taught them well."

"Yeah."

There was an awkward pause and then Anna spoke again, so softly Dean had to move closer to hear.

"I learned something from Pamela. Not just from what happened, but from her. The family she made, the strength of her love for them…that's what kept them together. When you live with that kind of strength, you get tied to it, you can't break away…and you never want to."

Dean swallowed, "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"I know you do. That's why I know you'll understand how hard it is for me when I say this, but…the Guild sent me a wave."

Dean looked up sharply.

"They found out what I was a part of and they looked at my lack of appointments these last few months and…Dean, they want me to leave."

* * *

Holy snickerdoodles! Anyway, hope y'all liked this story. I'm going to put it down as one of my own favorites so far. Next story should be posted in the next day or two, depending on how much writing I can fit in between my presentations and exams. It will be called Where We Belong and it will be the last "episode" before I start in on my original stories. Now I know I mentioned this before, but I will be shipped out for my summer job in the next two weeks and I will have little to no internet access for almost three months. This does not mean I wont be writing, it just means that updates are going to be super awkward (I'm still figuring out how I'm going to do this) but I wont disappear! Worst case scenario I'll post in giant huge blocks once a week with like four chapters at once. We'll see! I'm keeping my fingers crossed cause I don't want to stop just cause I'll be in the middle of nowhere.


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